Blood Wars
by B-Rated
Summary: Long ago there was a war between the families. The Inuzukas are taken by the Hyugas and Kiba finds enslavement not as bad with Neji as his master.
1. Ruins

To, earthbender068, you can put your eye back in now.

Enjoy!

Kiba looked up at the destroyed palace. A tattered flag of his family crest gave a final rip and fell to the cobbled stone at his feet. He stared at it numbly blocking out the sounds of crying mothers and screaming children as his family was taken away. He turned around and gave the same look to the man in front of him.

The cold white eyes stared at him victoriously. This was the man that killed his mother, the head of the Inuzukas. This was the man that was going to take the rest of the family as his reword. He'd have them broke, branded, and bought off.

Kiba closed his eyes and let his head fall. If only that would be his fate. But he was higher in the bloodline. He was prince. He'd suffer much worse.

He looked back up and Hiashi Hyuga began walking closer. "Are you ready to go, Kiba?" he asked formally.

Kiba looked over his shoulder at his ruined legacy once more before nodding. He held his head high and followed his new master to a cart separate from the two barred ones holding his family. His frown deepened walking past them.

"I can trust someone of your stature knows what will happen to them?" Hiashi asked.

"Yes," Kiba said solemnly.

Hiashi's hand raised and slapped him hard across the face. Kiba's head snapped to the side but he did nothing while his family watched their last noble be ripped of his status. "From now on you will address me as Master or You're Excellence," the man spat ruthlessly.

Kiba turned his head back and bowed respectfully, "I'm sorry, You're Excellence."

Hiashi crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at Kiba smugly, "you are a fast learner, Kiba. Keep it up and pull no tricks and perhaps life will be easier for you."

"I will follow your rule, You're Excellence," Kiba kept his head low to show his now lesser rank.

"Good answer," Hiashi turned and made way for his private wagon once more. Kiba followed obediently.

Kiba sat far towards the back of the wagon, his hands folded in his lap and his eyes staring straight ahead.

"I can trust you know better than to run, correct, Kiba?"

"Yes, You're Excellence."

Hiashi turned to an officer and nodded after taking his seat towards the front.

The officer turned to the others stationed ready to catch any escape attempts. He took a torch from one and went through the palace entry way. Kiba watched as his home caught fire.

Whips cracked and horses started moving. The wagons jerked into motion behind.

Kiba went back to watching trees as they paced. "May I ask what will become of me, You're Excellence?" he questioned without looking towards Hiashi.

"Driver, please stop the wagon," Hiashi looked over his shoulder. The reins were pulled and the wheels stopped turning.

Kiba realized his mistake and closed his eyes as he heard the strong footsteps move close to him. Kiba was slapped again, his face turning with the blow. "You will speak when spoken to," was his new command.

"I am sorry, You're Excellence."

Hiashi returned to his seat and the horses started moving again.

Kiba tried to relax his royal posture afraid that too would be frowned upon.

"Kiba, do you know what happened to your sister?" Hiashi asked.

Kiba nodded, "yes, You're Excellence, she killed herself when our father was taken away."

"Your father? I don't remember ever hearing anything about that. Tell me," he commanded.

Kiba nodded, "our father was taken away by the Uchihas after the Uzumaki clan was raided, You're Excellence. He was there because we were negotiating a peace treaty."

"I see," Hiashi nodded.

The rest of the ride was in silence. Kiba watched the skies change to dusk with brilliant colors. Blues faded to purples and pinks became oranges as the sun set behind the now open valley.

His family had lived in the woods. Deer paths connected the palace to the village. His family had been hunters and trackers, trappers and collectors. The Uzimakis had been land workers. The Hyugas were herdsmen, the Naras were innovators, and the Uchihas were fighters and swordsmen.

They were supposed to help each other and live in harmony with one another. But a war started between two and like a cancer spread to the others. Kiba's mother taught him on war, raised him while it was happening all around him and it was the same for her, and her father, and his, and his.

War had been happening for centuries. Outer villages were slain so often the hill sides and rivers would run red. Groups of one bloodline were enslaved and sold to another to gain money for or be used to help their enemy's war effort. Clans were destroyed and runaways were starting new ones. It was an endless war with no clear beginning and no sure ending. But still the families fought and would seem to continue to fight until the end of all time.

The wagon came to a rolling stop outside the large Hyuga palace. Kiba watched the crest printed flags wave in the twilight breeze. The beautiful sky had faded to gray and the air was getting cold.

"Father!" a small girl greeted while Hiashi stepped out of the wagon.

"Hello, Father," another female greeted, older and more respectful.

Kiba did not move. It was not proper for slaves to be around impressionable children and innocent women.

"Welcome home, Uncle," a male greeted, "would you like me to take the wagon out back?"

"Please do, Neji, and be sure the new slave is put into his room."

"Yes, Uncle," Neji stepped up into the wagon and sat not where Hiashi had sat but rather right across from Kiba. The Inuzuka's eyes fell knowing eye contact was prohibited.

The wheels turned once more as the diver steered the horses to go around the palace.

"You are Inuzuka?"

Kiba nodded.

"What position?"

"Successor," Kiba stated.

"We have never played host to a prince before. Your treatment will be no grater than any others."

Kiba nodded, "it will be worse."

"What is your given name?"

"Kiba."

"Kiba Inuzuka, you are no longer," he pronounced officially.

The wagon stopped again and Neji stepped out into the barn. He began unhitching the horses while the driver merely walked away.

Neji walked the animals to their stalls and removed their reins to place them on the hooks beside each door.

Kiba watched him. Yes, Neji was a royal but he wasn't as high in rank. He didn't get to command respect and that others work for him. He was a transition between the workers and the nobles. But still he was higher than Kiba now.

"Why do you not demand me to do that?" Kiba asked truly curios.

"Because right now is the last time you will ever be outside again. I don't want you to work during it," Neji stated as he continued preparing the wagon to rest for awhile.

Kiba stepped out of the wagon and close to the barn doors. He looked up at the dark twinkling sky. This would be the last time he saw stars. "Thank you," he sighed.

"Do not thank me," Neji stated. "Tomorrow you will be locked away and I will be there to brand you."

Kiba closed his eyes, "but until I am locked in that room I have something to be grateful for; a last look at the stars." He turned back around to Neji, "may I ask what my branding will be?"

Neji nodded, "it's a running joke within my family that you Inuzukas are wild animals, living in the forest and whatnot, so my uncle has been branding your like with fangs."

Kiba looked back up at the sky, "I have heard that joke before."

Neji finished his work and walked to Kiba's side, "are you ready to face your life of solitude?"

Kiba turned to him, his head held proudly, "yes."

"You are braver than me," Neji stated.

Kiba looked up into the Hyuga's beautiful whites, dancing with the moonlight, a weak smile placed on his lips. He looked back down at the ground, "it's not bravery it's numbness. I have yet to let my mother's death sink in."

"Then shall we start for the palace before you grasp the grimness of war," Neji started walking out from the cover of the barn and onto a dirt path.

Kiba followed obediently. The winding path led to stone through the gardens and Neji took Kiba in through the servant entrance. They climbed the tight spiraling stair case downward into a tunnel lit by candle light. Neji walked from one corridor to the next, "these tunnels are to protect my family if ever there is an attack."

"And if there is an attack while I'm staying here?"

Neji paused a moment before continuing with opening the door he was standing in front of. Kiba stepped in after him. The furnace made the room glow red as they lit up the first and most important view point of the room, the whipping chains.

The grotesque torture method that had been used by most if not all of the families. Kiba had seen the procedure given to a Nara. Now, he saw himself with his wrists chained to the corner where the wall met the ceiling and his ankles shackled to the ground.

He turned his attention to the wooden plank sitting on a pedestal. Leather straps with crude buckles were connected to the sides and foot. Scratch marks from nails were scraped into the wood. This had obviously been used before.

"Sleep well, Kiba," Neji stated before turning to leave.

Kiba sat on the wooden bench that would be his bed and suffering point. He sighed and reluctantly laid out on the hard object. He stared at the ceiling as the graveness of his situation began to sink in.

* * *


	2. Burns

"Uncle, why have you asked me to do this?" Neji questioned while winding down the staircase.

Hiashi stopped in the tunnel and turned to face his nephew, "Neji, I will not last forever and Hinata is much too venerable to take my place and Hanabi is still too young. You'll have to be my successor, Neji."

Neji bowed, "yes, Uncle."

"But first you must prove you can do what is need," Hiashi began walking again and Neji followed.

They entered the room to find Kiba already in his restraints. Neji's eyes landed on him briefly but he had to look away. He didn't find what they were doing inhuman and unjustified but rather… unnecessary. There were other methods of marking slaves.

He walked across the room and removed the brands from one of the furnaces that heated the house above. There were two metal markers; one for each side… of Kiba's face.

This wasn't cruel and unkind either. The face was the one part of the body that couldn't be covered without question. If they tried to hide it then at every check point they'd be asked to remove the dressing in suspicion. The slaves wouldn't make it past the gates without being brought back.

Kiba pulled at the straps holding him down. His body twisted and jerked with pain. His mouth was covered but Neji knew he was screaming.

More marks were left in the wood from Kiba's own nails now. And Neji watched numbly. The pain would leave in three weeks. All that would remain of this procedure would be the marks on his face and his wounded pride.

Kiba was tended to by maids. They made sure the burns healed properly. This precaution was only to keep him alive. Kiba was the stress reliever now. He could be whipped or tortured merely because his master was bored or angry. But he would be told he had done something wrong. Stealing bread from a cupboard that was still there or trying to run while he had sat patiently in his cell.

Neji witnessed this more than once. He was old enough to realize what the desperation of man would come to. To ensure the clan's survival measures were taken. Kiba would become nothing more than the bones and filthy blood in his body.

This was war. It had no true survivors.


	3. Scars

Neji stood silently listening, his eye twitched with every crack of the whip and heart sank with every painful sob. Hiashi was relentless, brutal. But this had to be done. Kiba was disobedient. He cussed and spat at them. He refused to let his spirit be broken. So they had to be unforgiving.

Neji thought back to the barn. Kiba liked the stars. If and when he escapes will his first night be to sleep in a field and watch the stars? Kiba wouldn't do that if he had no life in him left. Neji didn't want to see that happen. Not to this one. He was special. He deserved the stars.

"Uncle," Neji interrupted.

Hiashi's arm fell, "yes, Neji?"

"I like this one. May I have him?" It sounded as though they were talking over a piece of toast at the breakfast table.

"If you can break him," Hiashi held out the whip to Neji.

Neji looked at it for a moment before taking it into his own hands. Now, it was Hiashi's turn to watch.

Neji looked at the angry wounds and scars across Kiba's back. Three were brand new. He took a deep breath and rose his arm. There were three more cracks and two more screams. Kiba had stopped yelling.

Hiashi nodded in approval and left the room.

Neji rolled up the whip. If it had been his choice he'd of thrown it into the furnace. But instead he put it back where it belonged.

He looked at the gashes on Kiba's back. It made his stomach sick. He walked around to face Kiba.

The brands had turned out nicely. They left only red triangles on his cheeks. Now, they were streaked with tears. "I'm sorry," Neji stated.

Kiba looked up at him.

Neji could tell he wouldn't understand without further explanation, "I didn't want to, but Uncle would have whipped you five more times."

Kiba's head fell again to rest his chin on his chest. Neji watched him for a long moment. Tears were still following the same path and he was chewing on his lip to keep from sobbing.

Neji's eyes fell lower. The tan chest was markless. It was molded well with muscles and shinning with sweat from the adrenaline. "I bet you were beautiful," Neji said without thinking.

Kiba looked up at him again.

Neji cautiously brought a hand up to Kiba's tear stained face. He wiped at the tears as though the red marks would go with them. "You were a worthy prince. Otherwise you wouldn't fight so hard," Neji said staring at his own movements.

Neji's thumb began tracing the triangle, "maybe you still are beautiful." Neji pulled his hand away and stared deep into the hurt eyes. He could see his violent soul reflected in those orbs. Kiba was wild, he'd never be tamed.

The Hyuga looked down at the shackles holding the prisoner's ankle. He elegantly sank to his knees in front of the Inuzuka. He looked up at him to find him watching.

Kiba stared into the dangerous eyes below him. They were dark with threatening calm. It was a strange sight. So, white, so pure, so calm and steady, yet stone cold and blank. That was all Kiba could see. Those eyes.

Neji didn't break the gaze. His fingers worked on their own in blindness. There was the metal clink of the pin hitting the floor and Kiba's ankles were free. The Hyuga just a gracefully raised back up to his feet.

Their eyes parted as Neji worked on freeing Kiba's wrists. First the left then the right. Kiba collapsed onto the floor. The chains had been the only thing holding him upright.

Pain was consuming him. He felt as though even death wouldn't make it part. He dropped his chin once more and cried to the cold floor.

Neji watched him. Kiba knew his presence was still there. Why did he not leave?

Then he was on the floor again. Neji shifted close to the other body. He reached out and brought his chin back up for them to meet eye to eye again. "You are mine now," Neji spoke with a calm, emotionless tone but somehow with it being so cold it was reassuring. Because it meant he was serious, he was telling Kiba the truth when he said, "when your wounds are healed you will never see this room again."

He stood carefully and exited the cell, leaving Kiba to recollect what was left of his pride.


	4. Hopes

Neji climbed the spiral staircase that led to the kitchens. He found them dark and deserted, like most of the mansion. It was late into the evening, there was no sunlight, there was no need to be awake.

He found his way to the staircase that brought him to the second floor. To his right was a large hallway that led to large bedrooms. He turned left.

Neji traveled through the dark corridor that brought him to his uncle's office. Across from that was his room.

The curtains were drawn back to let the blue moon light in. Let it feast on everything in his room. He, like Kiba, liked the stars but he loved the moon.

It was a symbol of hope cutting through the darkness. From the one light shed millions and millions of stars. Almost as if the moon had created them. It was because of its courage to shine that the stars had found their own light.

That's why it pained him to light the oil lamp sitting on his vanity.

He pulled the tie from his long hair. It fell freely to his shoulder blades, long and elegantly. It was a sign he didn't work in the fields, didn't need it off his neck to keep cool. It was a sign he was above average.

Sighing he raked his fingers through it before reaching for the brush. He closed his eyes as he ran the bristles through his hair, sweeping it over his shoulder. He looked back at his reflection in the mirror as he continued the same action over and over.

What would his mother think of him now if she could see him? What would his father think? Would they be as upset as Hiashi would be? How would they react to find their son falling in love with a slave?


	5. Cares

Neji walked into the breeze. It bent the golden stalks at his knees. He brought up a hand to shield his eyes from the sun as to watch a bird fly overhead. It was the only other sign of life in this field. It was the only sign that time had continued moving.

He felt as though he would disappear into the gold swaying sea. He felt as though he wouldn't mind to.

He took warm air into his lungs. It smelt like nothing and everything around him. It was comforting. Like life itself had been in that breath.

Neji's eyes closed and his arms lifted to embrace another gust of wind running through the field.

A smile pulled at his lips. It felt good to feel. Warmth was swirling through his skin, spreading through him.

He needed this. To be reminded that he was small, that the world was bigger than that mansion. To be reminded his uncle didn't control everything.

This wheat grew without Hiashi's consent. The clouds moved without his permission. The sun shined on its own will. Birds flew because they could. Neji's heart loved without his knowing. It was all done because it was life. Not because Hiashi said it could.

Neji's arms fell back down as he looked back up at the sky. Hiashi didn't own the world. He didn't own life.

Kiba was body and soul. A price on his body didn't sell his soul. He owned his own self. He was no slave. Neji was no servant. Not anymore.

"Neji!" Hinata's timid voice called for him.

He turned around and started walking towards his cousin. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't pull the smile from his face.

Hinata was waiting for him at the end of the path that led back to the palace. When her cousin was beside her they began walking together towards their home. "Neji, you really shouldn't go out on your own…" she spoke to her feet, "not during war."

"It has always been war, Hinata," he sighed, finally loosing his pleasant mood.

"I-I know… but… with the Inuzuka's presence and all… enemy troops are more likely to attack now…" she shared to the plants beside the dirt path.

Neji sighed, "I sometimes hope they would."

The female's feet stopped moving. Neji took a few steps before noticing and turning back towards her.

"Y-you sh-shouldn't say things like that," her hands twisted in her skirts.

"I'm sorry, Hinata," Neji apologized. "I would never wish anything bad for you."

"Than-thank you," her hands stopped fidgeting and started smoothing the wrinkles she had caused. Her feet picked up and the two started their walk again. "Why did you say that, Neji?"

Neji thought a moment before answering her. "I wish Uncle hadn't attacked the Inuzukas, that's all."

"But… it's war," Hinata pointed.

It was Neji's turn to stop walking. He turned towards his cousin and asked one simple thing, "why?"

"H-huh?"

"Why are we fighting? Because of some ancient argument," he answered his own question. "There's no point to all these needless killings," he sighed, "but no one will put an end to it."

"May-maybe one day… someone will?" Hinata phrased like a question although it had been meant to be a reassuring statement.

"Perhaps," Neji looked up at the sky again. He knew it was unlikely though. A never-ending war won't come to a halt just because one person wishes it to. All of them need to agree to put an end to the murders.

That's what the war had become. No longer was it fighting for their ways of life. Now it was fighting for survival against others who were fighting for the sake of fighting.

In their world there was only two colors, red and black.

It was at this moment that Neji decided when Hiashi stepped down he would fight blood with ink.


	6. Mirrors

Kiba stared into the three side of himself. His eyes jumped from one to the other. How long had he been this thin? Those were the marks on his face? No matter how many times he touched them did they seem any more real.

He didn't even want to see his back. If he stretched hard enough he could feel the scars. He couldn't bear to look at them.

This is what he had become? What was he to do now? What more could happen to him? Why did Neji want him here? Why was he allowed to be here? Why was he still alive?

Who was this broken person he saw before him? Was he supposed to believe that was really him?

Kiba wasn't that weak. Kiba wasn't scared, nor was he shy, or quiet. He wasn't sick or frail. So who was this stranger in the mirror? Who was this person who had stolen his hair, face structures, his chest, and burned his cheeks three times over? That wasn't him.

But it had to be. He moved when Kiba moved, breathed when Kiba breathed. They were linked together. They shared the same thoughts, the same soul.

It was him. This was him. He was looking at his own reflection. He was watching himself cry. He was watching himself fall apart, tear at the seams, and unravel.

Kiba reached a hand out towards the other. His fingers collided with cold, glossy ones as he tried to wipe the reflection's tears.

His fingers slid down the mirror until coming to rest at his side.

Three angles of the same image told him what he saw was truth. Yet three angles of the same image lied to him.

They were telling him he _was_ Kiba Inuzuka and at the same moment they were telling him he was someone with no name. The Kiba Inuzuka he knew did not look like this nameless person. They did not share that face. Those marks were not his.

Kiba remembered getting them, remembered being treated for them. So they were his.

But that hair, messy and unkempt, grown and knotted, Kiba Inuzuka would never let that be his. It had been weeks since he had seen a brush, though. Even longer since scissors. So it was his.

When was the last time he had eaten? How long ago had he been given food? So that was why he was so thin.

Against his better judgment Kiba turned his back towards the looking glass and lost his breath. No! No! NO! This he refused to accept.

These scars were someone else's.

Kiba Inuzuka, even after so many whippings would not scar like this. No matter how deep the gashes that he felt were. They couldn't of bubbled into these.

His skin would be tougher. He would be tougher…

They were his. All skin cuts the same, bruises the same, and heals the same. He is no different. The scars belong to him.

And he now belongs to Neji.


	7. Freedoms

"Kiba," Neji caught the other's attention. He pulled the Inuzuka's eyes away from his reflection. "Don't," was all he said.

Kiba looked down at his feet as his master moved closer.

"I know what you're thinking," Neji looked down at him, "and don't think that."

Kiba still failed to meet those dangerous eyes.

"Because, Kiba, I don't," he stated. Neji's hand moved under Kiba's chin to make him look back at him. "You are still beautiful," for the first time Kiba saw the Hyuga smile. It was small, almost nonexistent, but it was powerful.

Then it was gone again and Neji's eyes were no longer looking into his. For a brief moment fear flashed through Kiba. Had he done something wrong? Why had Neji stopped smiling?

The comforting warmth of Neji's hand was leaving him. He desperately wanted it to come back.

"Kiba…?" Neji's voice was thick and Kiba couldn't remember when their faces had gotten so close. "Could I kiss you?" Neji's eyes were barely meeting Kiba's. They were half lidded and nearly closed.

What Kiba could see of the white orbs was dark, warm, wanting. Kiba found it hard to breathe under that gaze. Warmth from their mingling breaths was filling him. It was tingling under his skin, traveling to his face.

"Y-yes," Kiba felt his own voice becoming as heavy as his eye lids.

Neji's hand was back again. His thumb moving across Kiba's jaw, filling him with reassuring warmth.

Neji looked into Kiba's eyes once more before letting his drift all the way closed. His head tilted to the side and the gab was nonexistent.

Kiba melted against Neji's lips. But he was still nervous. He was still a slave. Neji could turn at any moment if he did something wrong.

So when Neji moved his body closer, straightening his back and making Kiba tilt his head up further to keep them connected he did. When a tongue asked for Kiba to part his lips more he obeyed.

If he hadn't been in this position he would have allowed it anyway. Neji had been the only one to show kindness, to care about him while he was in that room. He wanted to thank Neji and if this was the way he got to, then he would take that.

Kiba wanted to wrap an arm around his master. But what if he wasn't allowed to touch? What if only Neji was allowed to?

Kiba felt the lips on his smile. He felt a hand moving down his arm. The fingers took hold of his wrist.

The Inuzuka swallowed hard as the muscle teased his own and his arm was moved by another. What was Neji doing? What was he thinking?

Neji lifted Kiba's arm to his own shoulder. Silently, he was telling the other not to care, to be himself. He didn't have to be tame if he didn't want to be.

Neji's hand drifted back down to the crook in the Inuzuka's arm. He pulled away from the kiss with a contented sigh. His nose brushed against Kiba's, his forehead rested against the other, he was smiling broadly. "Kiba, don't be afraid of me," he whispered.

Kiba let his hand slide over Neji's shoulder while stepping closer. He looked to Neji for approval. Instead all he found was that calm blankness and a beautiful smile.

"I want to set you free…" the smile faltered, his voice became regretful, "but I don't want you to leave. You'll run from me to find what's left of your clan. I'm being selfish and I'm sorry, Kiba."

Kiba shook his head, "I-…" He didn't know what to say what to do. He wanted Neji, but more than he wanted his family?

"Kiba, I promise you that if I don't let you go by the time Hiashi steps down then I will not chase if you run," Neji stated. His arms wrapped tighter around the smaller body. "Because I need you free. When Hiashi steps down so will three other nobles. The timing will be perfect to put an end to this war," he moved so his chin was now resting on Kiba's head. "What I need you to do, Kiba, is find what's left of your family. I need you to do what your mother trained you for. You have to lead them, Kiba."

Kiba understood. He was the final key in Neji's plan and Neji didn't trust himself to let Kiba go when he needed to.

"I hear rumor that Inuzukas are living in the western hills. When you are stronger I will give you three days to find them and tell them of the war's end. But only three days, Kiba. I want you back. It's too dangerous for you to stay out there, your family numbers low and vulnerable," Neji pulled away to look into Kiba's face again. "To be sure you will return, if you don't I will see it as an act of war. I will have no choice but to tell Hiashi of the rumors as well."

Kiba nodded in agreement. This is when he realized he was no longer a slave. He was to be Neji's lover. And for some reason he couldn't stop his smile.


	8. Warnings

"I'll let you go where you want in the house, Kiba," Neji offered. "But be careful. You must avoid Hiashi at all costs or the result could be dangerous for the both of us. If you are to come across Hinata exercise caution. She is kind hearted and frail but that makes her easily controlled by fear. Do not talk to her unless she speaks to you first and even then make your comments short. But if you are to be faced by Hanabi, do not, no matter what she says, talk to her or follow her, do you understand?"

Kiba nodded.

"She is young but she comprehends far more than what people expect her to. She uses that to her advantage. She is Hiashi's daughter through and through. So try to stay in this room as much as possible. I know it's small but…"

"No, I like it," Kiba reassured. "But why is it here?"

"This room used to house a noble's mistress," Neji smiled. "The maids and I are the only ones who know about it."

Kiba sighed contently, leaning back against the other's chest. They were sitting on the floor leaning against the foot of the bed. Kiba failed to remember how he had gotten here but he was in no position to complain. All he could do was hum as Neji moved comb and fingers through his once tangled hair.

"My mother and I used to stay in this room after Father died," his tone grew darker again. "It was out of the way and easily hidden. Just as Hiashi wanted us to be."

Kiba let Neji's words consume him. His voice was easily lost in, no matter what he was saying.

"When Mother died Hiashi took that as his chance to raise the son his wife couldn't give him," Neji's story went on. "But I've never seen him as a father."

Kiba nodded, "I am sorry for your parents."

"I wonder what my life would have become if they had never left me," Neji's ministrations stopped momentarily. He stared down at the brown hair between his fingers. "Kiba, why is your hair so short?"

Kiba tilted his head back to see the other upside down. This made Neji smile. "Because I'm not above anyone. You can have the title of king but that doesn't make you fitting for the crown."

"And you can have the marks of a slave but that doesn't make you filth," Neji replied. That made Kiba smile.

"Tell me about your life before you came here, Kiba," Neji asked him as he laid back against him once more.

Kiba sighed and thought back to his years in the woods. The first memory that came to him was of him and his sister running down the deer paths. Kiba ran barefoot over the forest floors. He was young, mere thorns and twigs were no match. The mud sloshed beneath his feet, the creek's water slapped and splashed onto his ankles.

The sky was growing dark and he knew they should turn around. They should go back. They should go home. But Hana's voice kept urging him. _"Just a little farther, Kiba," _she'd look over her shoulder and yell to him before laughing and running faster.

Kiba didn't, couldn't worry as long as he could see his sister in front of him. She knew a secret and he had to follow.

The fading sky turned to dark. The woods changed from warm solitude to frightening vulnerability. The world under the blanket of trees had gone silent. Everything seemed to stop. Kiba had lost track of Hana.

Fear and panic ripped through him. Blindly he ran. His hands reached out for something, anything. Trunks, branches, leaves, flowers, vines, they all crossed his hands but they all felt the same. Then there was nothing.

It was as though the trees had thrown him out of the forest. He stumbled as his feet came to a stop. The dark had light again. His eyes could see the mass of blending shadows that was the woods he had just come from.

Then he looked up and lost his breath.

Above him were millions and millions of fireflies. But when he tried to catch them his reach would fall short. So he stared.

They didn't blink like the bugs he knew. They didn't swoop down onto any plants to rest. They didn't move at all. What were these things?

_"Stars," _Hana's voice came behind him. _"Mother showed me them the same way when I was your age. Let's go home, Kiba," _a warm hand took his and began pulling him back towards the towering shadows.

Neji rested his head onto Kiba's shoulder as he talked. The comb sat on the floor beside them, long forgotten. The oil lamp beside the bed began to die and the shadows grew.

Neji smiled and wrapped his arms around the body in front of him. Kiba's hands rested over his. He looked down at them. His own fingers tan and Neji's pale.

Kiba suddenly tensed when he felt breath against his ear. "Kiba, my prince…"

Kiba smiled and relaxed into the bodily embrace, "it feels like ages since I had been called such a thing."

Neji purred into the tan ear, "then let me remind you of how much you're worth." His hand drifted out from under Kiba's. "I would give the sun to see you smile," Neji whispered. His voice was thick and devouring the Inuzuka's sanity. It was so strongly alluring, pulling Kiba away. "Your beauty puts the moon's to envy," he smiled as Kiba's head tilted back against his shoulder. "And the stars only shine half as bright for me than they do for you." Neji looked down into Kiba's eyes. He leaned forward to bring their lips together.

Kiba accepted the kiss. He took in the playful tongue. He moaned into the other's mouth as his body fell into tingling haziness. All he wanted was to feel those warm hands on him. Touching him anywhere and everywhere. He wanted Neji. He needed him. Kiba relied on him, he owed his life to him. He loved him.


	9. Tears

Kiba walked along the dim hallway, his head bent to watch his feet move over the old crimson carpet. He heard light steps coming towards him, the strides were small. They were female.

Kiba stopped moving. If they were a maid they would keep going. If it was Hanabi he would not move from his spot and eventually the girl would get bored and move on. But when the person stopped beside him he knew it was Hinata. She did not say anything, nor did he.

They were quietly staring at the floor at their feet. Then Hinata spoke, "thank you… If you had never of come here… Neji would still be cold and uncaring."

Kiba did nothing. He continued to keep his neck bent until he heard her footsteps continuing on down the corridor behind him. Sighing, he released a breath he hadn't known he was holding and moved on down the hallway.

He reached a room that had been marked as his favorite the moment he stepped into it for the first time. The library.

His family had had one but not like this one. Theirs only housed legal documents, family trees, accounts of the former nobles' mistakes, and there were no books like the ones in the Hyuga's library.

But this trip to the library would prove to be an unsuccessful one. Kiba froze when he realized he was not the only one in the room. He began to panic as eyes began to inquiry to his presence. He heard the sound of a book hitting a table and strong large strides coming towards him. "I- I'm sorry, I-I didn't know you- I didn't mean to interrupt," he stammered and began backing towards the door.

He heard a growl and the person stopped in front of him. Kiba cringed, realizing his mistake and waited for what was to come next.

"Uncle," Neji's voice brought Kiba relief. He relaxed a little and looked up to see Hiashi lowering his hand. "We agreed he is mine. I will punish him as I see fit," Neji went on, moving closer to them.

"He has spoken out of turn, Neji," Hiashi stated. "That is an easy lesson for any slave to comprehend. Unless… you have not gone through with teaching him it."

"What I teach him is of no importance to you," Neji argued.

"No…? I am the one who gave him to you, I can just as easily take him back," Hiashi pointed.

Kiba tensed as images came flooding back. Memories of the room, the whipping chains, the pain… the blood, his own blood.

Neji looked over at him, noticing the fear running through those eyes. He looked back at his uncle.

"Punish him, Neji," he demanded.

Neji's eyes met Kiba's. Dark and emotionless, the same eyes that watched as Kiba had been branded. Kiba watched as Neji's hand raised before screwing his eyes shut.

It had to be done. It was the only way Hiashi would let them be. It was the only way of keeping him from that room. But that didn't change the fact that with a solid crack Kiba's heart felt broken.

Kiba's own hand flew up to hold the side of his face. He bit back a sob, feeling tears stinging in his eyes, which hurt more than the stinging in his cheek. Neji had only hit him with half the effort his uncle would have, so why then did he feel like crying?

Hiashi nodded and turned back to his book he had left beside one of the chairs. Neji turned away from him. "Come, Kiba," he ordered while walking out of the library.

Kiba followed. He wanted to scream, to run, but his feet fell into pace behind Neji's. He watched as the long brown hair stayed in place as he walked. He followed him down the hallway and even went with him behind a painting.

When the door was shut behind them Neji's calm manor broke. "I'm sorry, Kiba," he ushered him over to sit on the edge of the bed. Neji kneeled in front of him, his own hand brushing Kiba's away to hold where it had been. "I'm so sorry. How bad did I hit you?"

Kiba shook his head, "it sounded worse than it feels." He couldn't help his thick and broken voice. It was dry and cracking as tears were threatening.

"Don't cry, please, don't cry," he leaned forward and kissed at Kiba's eyelids. He sank down to bring his lips to Kiba's. Then he kissed lightly at the side of Kiba's face that was turning red.

Kiba reached out to wrap his arms around Neji's shoulders. It never once crossed his mind that it had hurt Neji as well.

Neji showered Kiba with more desperate kisses until he buried his face against his neck. His arms folded around Kiba's waist, holding him tightly. "I'm sorry."

Kiba nodded, "thank you…"

He wasn't sure what he was so thankful for but he was. Perhaps it was Neji's regret or his heartache, or the fact he had just saved Kiba from being turned back over into Hiashi's hands. Maybe he was just thankful for having Neji alone.

Kiba sighed and rested his head against Neji's shoulder. Yes, it was definitely all of them.


	10. Wants

Kiba gently knocked on the door in front of him before trying the handle. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

"Kiba, this is a surprise, something wrong?" Neji set the brush back down on his vanity while spinning on the stool to face his guest.

"No, I just..." Kiba was nervous. He had never been in Neji's room before. He had never been invited into Neji's room before. Even now he was here on a whim. Neji had said he was given freedom of exploration. Perhaps he was testing his limits or it was merely that he wanted to see Neji. The reason wasn't important, what was was the fact that he was standing in his room.

Kiba decided not to be afraid. Neji had never hurt him. Not in a way that he had been driven by self motivation. Not with his own wanting to. Neji was kind, understanding and confusing. The later, the reason why Kiba was here.

He walked towards the Hyugaand dropped to his knees in front of him. Neji looked down at him with shock and question, "Kiba, what are you doing?"

"You kiss me, you touch me, yet you refuse me," Kiba looked up at him, "I am your slave. You are my master. Why haven't you used that power?"

Realization dawned on Neji. His face fell blank, "is that all you think of me?"

Kiba frantically shook his head, "no!"

He gently pushed Kiba away and stood up. "Is that what you want of me?"

Kiba looked down, feeling foolish and completely conflicted. He folded his hands in his lap and sank further onto the floor.

"I am your master, Kiba, you do serve me but only by your will. I will not ask anything of you, you yourself do not wish. I won't ask you to please me, Kiba," he stated firmly.

"But I want to, Neji," Kiba looked up at him.

"No," he demanded and stepped past Kiba. "You are a noble act like one."

"I... I don't know how to anymore," his hands balled into fists with shameful frustration. Why was he acting like this. His mother had spent years drilling lessons on posture and pride, behaviors and facades to cover his otherwise demeaning attitudes. She filled his head with etiquette and rules but all of it made no sense now. He had lost it. He was not fitting to be anything other than the mess on Neji's floor.

Neji sighed and knelled beside him. He smiled kindly and tilted Kiba's chin up to meet his eyes, "then let me reteach you." He leaned in to gently brush Kiba's lips with his before pulling away enough to linger towards his ear. "You are pridefull," he whispered.

Kiba looked straight ahead with a frightened and nervous stare. Neji's voice was rough and calm. It was like the fall breeze that carried the threat of winter. It was soothing and it was warning for any who chose to what was to come. But you had to listen. You couldn't be caught in the sensation of wind, the oranges and reds of the distracting trees. Listen to the wind. Don't feel it, hear it. Hana had taught him that.

"You are stong and confident. You bend to no will, you are the will, make others bend to you," Neji went on. Kiba was falling for the theatrics though. Neji's breath was warm, his lips soft and forming each word carefully. "You are caring, kind, and generous to your people. You are loving, welcoming, fair and just." Kiba felt his eyelids getting heavy. "You shed no tears for yourself, you are stronger than pain, save your pity for the ones who cannot help themselves. Save your tears, anger, hatred, fear, shame and guilt. Save yourself from pain and your people will follow." Neji's lips ghosted down over Kiba's jaw.

Kiba sighed contently and moved closer. Neji was crossing the line that Kiba was always aware of. Neji so subtilely made it to the border between touch and caress. Neji touched Kiba often, like a doll to be played with, but he so rarely touched him with intent.

He felt him kiss his neck and a warm hand held the opposite side. His thumb traced his jaw bone and index fingerburied in his hair. "You say I refuse you," Neji stated with an underline of questioning. "What would accepting you be?"

Kiba gasped lightly. He ran his hand up Neji's arm to pull his hand away. He shifted back a little. Neji sat back to meet Kiba's eyes. Those wild and passionate eyes. They captured him. They drowned him.

"Neji... I-" Kiba sighed and looked down at his knees. "Thank you..." he looked up again into the white irises, "for everything. I owe myself to you. I wanted you to know that. I will do anything for you, on my will I'll act out your will. Accept me. All of me. I give my soul to you. I give my heart to you." He leaned in carefully to bring his lips to Neji's, "I give you my body to do with as you please because I want you to. I wish you to."

Neji moved forward when Kiba moved back, keeping them together longer. With little more movment Kiba was poised over one of Neji's knees. The Hyuga's arms wrapped around his waist while Kiba's hands wound their way over his shoulders, his fingers sifting through the long hair.

Neji kissed along a tan neck once more. At the end of the trail he came to Kiba's lips. Deeply and passionately they kissed. Kiba felt the moan bubbling in his throat but before he could voice it Neji pushed him away.

Kiba was set back onto the floor and Neji rose back to his feet. "I think you should leave now, Kiba," he stated and walked towards the door to see him out.

Kiba quickly stood and stared at him. He was supposed to leave now. After all that was said, after all that he had promised. No. Kiba would not let Neji toss him out so simpely when he himself says Kiba should act more like the noble he was intended to be. Neji wanted him to act proper... then that was what he would get.

Kiba's face turned blank, his eyes caught fire. He straightened his back, squared his shoulders, held his head high, like he had been taught to years ago. He marched towards Neji with strong and confident stides. He threw his arms around his neck and brought their faces close enough to share breaths. "No," his voice was as dark as his eyes, deep and raw.

His hand crawled up Neji's neck, his fingers tangling in the soft strands as he held his skull and leaned forward.


	11. Discoveries

Hiashi silently set his quill onto its resting place and stood from his desk. He turned down the lamp until it died, leaving him in a chilling blanket of darkness. He moved around the large oak desk and started for the door which shut with a creak as his feet stepped onto the crimson rug. He gracefully pulled the key from his sleeve and locked his office door for the night.

Quietly stepping further into the hallway he noticed the light flooding through the crack in Neji's door. Stepping closer he was greeted with the murmurs of voices behind the door.

Hiashi had to admit that he didn't much care. Neji was approaching manhood. If he wished to have visitors in the night that was his own vice. Maids in nobles' houses were known to keep more secrets than where to dust and how to set a proper table.

But when he caught a few choice words from the muffled conversation a cord of anger was struck in his soul. He forced himself to back into calm. He stood quietly in the dark hallway, weighing his options before landing on a decision and continuing on his way.

_"I love you, Kiba." _


	12. Plans

Hiashi didn't bother to knock before forcefully opening his nephew's door. Neji opened his eyes and sat up in his bed ungracefully. "Un-"

"You should know, Neji, if you insist on spending the night with someone you shouldn't then be prepared to do chores in the morning," he walked across the room and tore the curtains open. The light struck Neji with painful force, his hand shot up to cover his eyes.

Hiashi turned and started to leave again before stopping in the doorway and looking over his shoulder but not meeting Neji's eyes, "oh, and as an off topic subject I thought you should know that I sold off the last of the Inuzuka earlier this morning." Then he was quickly gone again.

Neji's heart sank deep into his stomach. Kiba had been the only Inuzuka remaining in Hyuga possession. He felt his whole self shattering.

Kiba was gone... Kiba was gone. He threw off his covers and started getting dressed. He had a day of chores ahead.

Neji was a realist. He knew he was no knight in shining armor, no hero, nothing more than the nephew of a noble. Kiba was gone and there was nothing to be done about it. Not now at least.

All he could do now was as he was told and try to get back to Hiashi's nonexistent good side. Eventually he could find Kiba's new owner, buy him back, set him free, and end the war. Hiashi kept records of every sale, purchase, trade, income, outcome, contraband, and every other business transaction in his office. All Neji would need was the key and he would get it, somehow.


	13. Opportunities

Fortunately lady luck smiled down on Neji. The following weeks were torture in the form of manual labor. Then one fateful morning Neji was awoken by the sound of a female scream. In haste he threw off the bed covers and went into the hallway to find maids already rushing past him.

"Lady Hinata, what is-" one of them started but gasped and covered her mouth.

Neji pushed past them into Hiashi's room. He laid sprawled on the floor, his daughter crying over him.

"Get her out of here," he comanded, "and call for a doctor!"

Two of the maids pulled Hinata to her feet and out into the hallway, the other turned and ran for the stairs.

Neji knelled and picked up one of the Noble's arms. With trying effort he placed his uncle onto the bed. "What happened?" He attempted to gain an explanation.

Hiashi's breathing was harsh, his face dangerously pale and he was shaking. He tried to talk but his voice broke. He gave a small turn of his head and pulled the key from his sleeve. "Office..." he whispered hoarsely.

Neji nodded and left his uncle's side. He walked quickly down the corridor and unlocked the door with amazing speed. Without second thought he entered and walked to the desk. He set the key down and scanned the wooden surface.

His eyes landed on a glass that was nearly empty. He picked it up and swirled its contents before bringing it to his nose to take in the heavy alcoholic odor but all scotch it was not. He concluded it poisoned and prepared to leave and find the culprit and the antidote.

Then it dawned on him. Here he stood in Hiashi's office. Kiba's papers were in this room waiting to be found. He had a decision to make. Find Kiba or save Hiashi?

His morals laid with the dying, his heart with the suffering. He was torn.

He needed Hiashi alive still. The timing wasn't right. But the what ifs attacked him.

Neji looked up to see he had not shut the door. He quietly cursed himself and set the glass back down to begin rifling through drawers. He scanned papers, looking for certain words but never finding them. It wasn't here.

That would mean Hiahsi hadn't recorded it? Or perhaps Kiba wasn't sold, Hiashi had lied just to teach him a lesson. Neji wasn't sure what to listen to anymore, what to believe. All he knew was that he had an evil man to save. Does it make him a horrible person because he was going to?


	14. Realities

Neji leaned against the kitchen doorway. He tilted his head sideways in silent question to his cousin's back. She was standing in front of the stove, her hands balled into a single fist and pressed against her lips.

"Hinata?" He cut through the silence and stepped into the kitchen as a maid rushed by to gather something for her master.

She jumped and dropped her hands to the front of her skirts while turning around.

"He will be alright, Hinata," Neji reassured.

Hinata looked down, "I-I-... Who-..."

"It's been taken care of," Neji stated. He straightened his spine and adopted his dark tone, "if you would like to ask questions yourself try the third door to the left." He sighed and turned to leave, stopping to look over his shoulder. The only difference between him and Hiashi was that he did look Hinata in the eyes. "It's been a trying day and we have an even harder week ahead, don't stay up too late."

She nodded, "y-yes." Her fingers twisted and tightened together as she watched Neji leave. She sighed and stared at her feet a long moment before making up her mind.

Her hands unknotted and moved to fists at her sides before she started for the hatch that opened into the spiral staircase. She quietly climbed down the metal stairs to the inner ground working of elaborate tunnels below her home.

She had never really been down into these cells, nor had she ever wished to venture there. Yet here she was. It was cold, it was damp, and it was dark. She crept down the hallway afraid of every shadow, jumping at every sound.

That was until she reached the third door. As she reached for the handle a scream, long and rough echoed from somewhere further down the hall. With quick fear she pushed open the door in front of her and entered.

What she found made her weak. The cell was hot and the stone walls glowing red from the furnace. This was not like the corridor. This was not dreary and cave like. This was hell. And before her stood the rotting soul.

His head dangling low, black dirty hair hung in his face. His body covered in scars, none of them new. He stood in the chains, completely reliant on them for strength because his knees were bent foreword, leaning only on his toes.

Hinata recognized him but she couldn't recall his name, only that he was Uchiha and new to the mansion. His job was to clean the horse stalls. He was given a home on the grounds, he was treated fairly, why had he done this? Why had he tried to kill her father? Why wasn't she told anything? They kept her in the dark.

She was woman. She was frail. She was weak. The truth of most of everything was kept from her. She knew nothing and asked nothing. She was sick of it.

"Why?!"

The Uchiha looked up. His groggy eyes focused on her and a grin pulled at the corner of his lip. "Heh, the girl... The bastard's daughter, right?" He laughed dryly before coughing. "Bet you have no clue what your ol' man does in these rooms, huh?"

She shook her head violently, "no! You are wrong!"

"Open them pretty eyes, girly, what do you see?"

Hinata stared at her feet instead. She was too afraid to see. She was frail. She was weak. She wanted to be kept in the dark. Her mistake was to look into the man's face. A long scar claimed the side of his face. It ran from temple to jaw. It was new. It was healed but only just.

He noticed her stare and stopped his grinning, "you still think he's the victim? You still think I'm in the wrong?"

She frantically shook her head again and turned her back to him.

"At least Neji hasn't beat me... Considering what I done I thought I'd be dead by now," his head fell back down.

Hinata said nothing more and left the room again. She was thrown from the fire into the freezing cold. The metal door behind her slammed and rang off the walls. It was followed by another cry. It was broken and pleading, coming from the same direction.

Someone somewhere was suffering. Someone somewhere wanted help. But in fear of what she would find and what she would uncover about her father she turned back towards them and went to the stairs.

She emerged from the bellow ground and shut the hatch. She walked through the silence to the stairs. Reaching the top, she looked towards the light coming from her father's open door. Maids and doctors were constantly coming in and out of that room.

She turned left. She reached the door belonging to her cousin and knocked gently to keep the sleeping and resting that way. The door opened enough to reveal Neji's face.

"Is there a-anyone else d-down there, Neji?" She asked the door handle.

Neji's brows furrowed, "no."

"A-are you s-sure?" Had she imagined the screams.

"Why?" Neji asked.

"S-someone screamed..." she swallowed hard.

"Thank you, Hinata. I'll look into it," Neji stated. "Good night."

She nodded, "good night." She turned and went back down the hallway.

Neji closed his door and turned out the light. He walked to his bed and climbed beneath the covers, yet he could not sleep.

What if Hinata had heard Kiba...?


	15. Deceptions

Neji stood with tall threat was cold and hard in his voice, "I will ask one more time, Rai. Where is the key to that room?"

"I don't know," the woman repeated defiantly. Neji knew she was lying. She was the head maid of this house. She was the one Hiashi trusted to keep secrets, the one he called for when he was shut away in his office. She knew who was in that room and how to get in.

"You are wearing on my patience," he warned.

"And what will you do _Lord _Neji? You have no more power than an ant and about half the will to use it," she grinned.

"I will not raise my hand to a woman," this made her smile grow, "neither to hit her... nor to give her food. For your failure to cooperate you have found yourself in chains until your savior himself is set free," his smile was cold. Her face had fallen into shock. "Perhaps that will help you to learn of the key's hiding place?"

Neji's status was good for learning secrets about the people that served under Hiashi's rule. He knew that the wagon driver enjoyed his pipe, the cook sometimes slipped sleeping drought into Hanabi's soup when she awoke the house from one of her nightmares, the maids taken from war kept pictures of their families under their beds, and this one, Rai, was in an affair with the convected Uchiha and he was condemned to death.

"If he knows I helped you-" she began to plea.

"He won't," Neji reassured.

She looked around the silent kitchen skeptically before finally whispering, "shelf five, book ten from the left."

Neji nodded as if to say that was good enough and she left the room, continuing on her way out the door to the gardens. Neji went into the dining room and took back his seat at the table in front of his breakfast.

"I-is everyt-thing all right, Neji?" Hinata asked her eggs.

"Yes, Hiashi's fever is beginning to break," he shared placing the linen back in his lap and picked up his fork.

Hanabi looked at him suspiciously but said nothing and their meal continued in silence. Afterwards he climbed the stairs and turned into the library. He walked to the one side of the room an began his counting. Running his fingers over the leather bound spines and mouthing the numbers. "Ten..." his skin crossed the smooth and title-less curve of a dark stained book. Carefully he pulled it from the shelf.

He turned the ivory pages to face him and looked for a gap between the paper. Finding one, he turned to it and found nothing other than the dent of where a skeleton key once hid. He stared at it a long moment before anger and frustration pured their nasty vile into him. He threw the book across the library and cursed to himself before beginning to storm out.

"Something the matter, Neji?" Hanabi stood in his way at the doorway. Her hands were held behind her back and she smiled.

Neji sighed and covered his emotions once again, "no, Hanabi, I just couldn't find what I was looking for."

"What were you looking for? Maybe I can help," she offered.

"No thank you. Why don't you go keep Hinata company?" He suggested.

Hianabi's eyes read right through Neji but she nodded and skipped off down the hallway. He sighed and decided he would visit his uncle as soon as night fell and he had received his own douse of sleeping drought.


	16. Apologies

Neji sat quietly watching as a maid took the cloth from Hiashi's forehead and rung it out over the basin before puring more water onto it from the pitcher. She refolded it and placed it back on her master's fevered head and pulled up his bed sheets. He nodded to her as she left the room, "thank you." She was done for the day, surely bed was her next destination. It was written all over her tired face.

Sighing he stood from the chair at Hiashi's bedside and shut the door before locking it. He looked at the calm body laying motionless without comprehension of the world around him. "What am I going to do with you, Uncle?" he asked the still man.

He reclaimed his seat and removed a small vile from his sleeve. He turned it over in his hands while thinking. "Alive you get in my way, dead you are of no use," he continued his one-sided conversation. "I am sorry, Uncle, but I can't have you getting well again. I have yet to discover where you have hid my love and I would very much like him back." Sighing again he replaced the medicine on the bedside table with his own and slipped the aid into his sleeve. "Congratulations, Uncle," Neji stood again and leaned over the bed to look into the sickly drained face, "in all your doings you've only managed to upset one more person than was safe to."

Neji wondered briefly what Hinata loved about her father. He was cold, he was harsh, he was unforgiving. But he meant the world to his daughters. Because they shared the same blood? Neji scoffed and pulled away to go back to the door. He unlocked it and twisted the handle.

War was in the eye of the beholder. Hyuga's versus The Families; Neji versus Hiashi.


	17. Findings

Neji stood in the doorway the following afternoon as Hinata was told that even though her father had been receiving his treatment he still was not getting any better. He watched her face of despair as she reached for his clammy hand. When the doctor left the room, passing him, she cried.

Neji had never been bothered by loosing his parents before. He had never missed them, and hardly thought about them. But at this moment he suddenly remembered what it was like to receive a father's pride and mother's love.

The seas that were usually calm and serene rippled and churned with violent hatred and betrayal. Jealousy and resentment turned to vicious creatures that were once hidden in the depths and were now unleashed by ripping tide.

Suddenly chains tightly wrapped around the creatures and dragged them back down as the storm passed, but its damage was done. The shores would never be the same.

Neji turned quietly and left the room, not even noticing the smallest Hyuga standing in the hallway. Hanabi's eyes followed him as he walked away before looking in at her sister. She started her feet to go after her cousin.

Neji went into the library and sank into one of the seats to stare at the shelves. Hanabi stopped in front of him. For being a young girl of eleven there was nothing but power in her voice, "paintings don't have light comping from their frames."

Neji turned his eyes to look at her. They gave away no emotion or feeling.

"Slaves don't live on the second floor," she went on, "masters do not refer to them as love, Hyugas do not love Inazukas, men do not love men, and Father has never been sick."

Neji's jaw tightened, "you're a smart girl, Hanabi. You should know not to speak lightly of accusations."

She nodded.

"Acting like an adult gets you punished like one." He dropped his fist away from his chin and leaned down towards her, "and playing with fire gets you burned."

A smile crept up onto the small girl's face. "Which one of us is playing with fire?" She asked calmly and left the library.

Neji sighed and sat up straight. He had to find that key and soon.

He flinched as sunlight broke the glass and struck his eyes. As a reflex his hand came up to shield himself. Looking through his fingers he caught sight of a book laying in the window sill. He looked over at the other windows. Each one housed two books. Five windows, nine books.

Out of curiosity he pulled the lone book from the fifth window. His fingers ran over a gap in the pages and he felt his hope raising. Looking over his shoulder, he opened it. His eyes shot wide and quickly he removed the silver key, sliding it into his sleeve.

He set the book back onto its side and he quietly left the library. He struggled to keep himself from running down the stairs and straight to the kitchen. He couldn't bring attention to himself, not now, not while the mansion was in an uproar from Hiashi's condition.

The kitchen was swarmed by maids and cooks. Neji ignored them and went for the hatch, "I wish to talk to the Uchiha, no one interrupt." All in the room nodded and Neji continued down the stairs.

Dark and damp enveloped him. His footsteps echoed off the stone walls as he passed empty cell after empty cell. Then he came to one that had a closed door. One with red light coming from under the metal.

He removed the key and slid it cautiously into the worn lock. He sighed in relief as it clicked when it turned.

Never once had he considered being afraid of what might be on the other side. He had never though that it could be anyone other than Kiba. Would he be relieved if it wasn't? Would he be relieved if it was?

He hesitated, cleared his head and pushed the door open. The sight to greet him was not a relieving one.


	18. Wounds

Neji lost his thoughts and rushed forward. He made quick work of pins and caught the falling before his own knees gave in and they both collapsed onto the floor. Kiba was shaking and couldn't move. All he did was cry against Neji's shoulder. "You promised..." his voice was dry and cracked.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Neji hugged Kiba tighter. He was so weak. So small... So wounded. "Kiba, Hiashi will pay for this," he stated firmly. "What has he done to you?"

Kiba shook his head against Neji, smearing tears, sweat and blood on the white tunic. Neji nodded in understanding. He rested his chin on Kiba's messy hair and closed his eyes tight.

He refused to see the wounds and the blood until Kiba was ready to show them. All he could do was hold him until he finished shaking.

"N-Neji..." Kiba's voice cracked and broke in his throat.

The Hyuga moved to look into Kiba's face while holding it in his hands. The ivory eyes jumped from feature to feature in hopes of reading what the other had to say so he would not have to say it.

Kiba looked down to the floor, "I thought... you'd never... f-find me."

Neji shook his head and pulled the body into his arms as tight as he could without furthering his pain. He pressed his lips to the shell of Kiba's ear and whispered three words in a continues loop until the Inuzuka relaxed.

Neji sighed and kissed his cheek. "I should tend to your wounds," his voice was soft and assuring. Kiba used the last of his strength to nod.

Neji slowly and carefully guided Kiba to lay on his stomach on the stone floor. He stood and began rolling up his sleeves while walking towards a bucket sitting near the wall. He picked it up and brought it to Kiba's side.

He knelled and removed the rag from the lip of the bucket before plunging it into the salted water. He rang it thoroughly and paused before taking the next step, "forgive me."

Kiba chewed on his bottom lip, closed his eyes tight and waited. He groaned and hissed in pain as the wet rag was placed over his torn skin.

Neji said nothing more as he repeated the process late into the night.


	19. Pains

The Hyuga sighed looking down at the tan body laying among white satin sheets. Kiba was finally where he belonged, in a place designed for a future noble. He smiled and lightly traced old, faded, scars and newer, pink, ones. He reached the base of the neck and traveled up to move his fingers through messy hair.

Neji dropped to his knees at Kiba's bedside and whispered to his ear, "Kiba... My prince, it is time for another brushing."

The Inuzuka's eyes slowly opened. He blinked to adjust to the light from the oil lamp beside the bed and smiled around a yawn. Then he did not do anything further than shake his head. His body still ached, his muscles still sore. "I can't move, Neji," he stated sleepily.

Neji nodded knowingly, "where does it hurt?"

"My legs, my arms, my back..." Kiba informed.

Neji reached for Kiba's hand that laid under his face. He pulled it away from Kiba's body until he was holding his arm out straight. Neji stood and wrapped his hands around Kiba's wrist, his fingers beginning to work in circles.

Kiba relaxed almost instantly and Neji's ministrations continued pressing firmly but never roughly against strained muscles. He worked his way up Kiba's arm, stopping at his shoulder and moving to the opposite arm.

Kiba hummed when he finally reached his back. He eased the tense body with a series of intricate rotations. Then his thumbs pressed into the tissue on either side of the Inuzuka's spine and drug down with the same amount of pressure from his shoulders to the small of his back.

Kiba couldn't stop the moan he hadn't known he was holding in.

Neji smiled and set to work on Kiba's ankle. He continued his design up to the knee joint before switching to the other leg.

Kiba chewed on his lip to suppress a whimper.

Neji grinned and began teasingly moving up Kiba's thighs.

Kiba was unsure of what to make of this. Neji's line was blurred. He couldn't tell if he was touching to aide or caressing to be loving. No matter Neji's intentions Kiba's body took it in ways he didn't think he should but he couldn't stop himself.

Neji's hands completed their task and he leaned down to kiss Kiba's cheek, "roll over, love."

Kiba's eyes shot open, which he never remembered closing. Neji smiled softly and kissed him again, "I said not to be afraid of me."

"I'm not, Neji," Kiba stated.

"Then roll over," the Hyuga insisted. Neji dropped to his haunches, his face level with Kiba's. He gently traced the side of a triangle, "I love you, Kiba, and I want to show you how much before I miss my chance again."

Kiba smiled and forced his body to sit up while Neji rose back to his feet. Kiba had no words to say. There was nothing to be said. All words had been exchanged the only fitting thing to do was to lean up towards soft pale lips, let his eyes close and relax.

He had Neji again. He had warmth, he had comfort, he had love.

Kiba felt Neji's lips part against his own and instinctively did the same. Neji's tongue slowly sank between his lips. Kiba encouraged him, his own muscle moving against his while his fingers tangled in the long brown locks.

Neji hummed his content and the kiss was broken. "Kiba..." Neji's eye's were still closed and lips formed words against the Inuzuka's. "Will you let me?" His hand came up to gently caress Kiba's cheek before sliding into the tangled mess of hair. He pulled back just enough to look into Kiba's brown eyes.

The Inuzuka smiled and leaned forward for another kiss before resting his forehead to the Hyuga's and nodding softly. "However you want me, I'm yours," he whispered.

"I don't just want you, Kiba. I need you," Neji replied. He gave Kiba's lips one more soft kiss before sinking to his neck. Fluttering, gentle, touches were left in a trail to his shoulder. His hand shied away from the messy hair and down the scarred back.

Kiba shivered from the light touch over abused skin. The hands stopped in the small of his back, pressing fully against the tense muscles under the tan skin. "But only if you promise me something," Neji's voice was low and ghosting over the side of Kiba's neck.

"Anything, Neji," Kiba agreed in complete trust.

"You will not leave this bed until you are well again," Neji pulled away to meet Kiba's eyes.

Kiba nodded with a smile, "that is a promise I will make all effort to uphold."

"I'm glad," the corners of Neji's mouth upturned in a small, simple, smile before he leaned forward once more to bring his lips to Kiba's in a pact-sealing kiss.


	20. Fires

Neji's lips kept them locked in the kiss, his tongue dancing behind Kiba's. His hands massaged at the tan shoulders before quickly working their way down with rotations. Kiba moaned into the kiss when thumbs slid over his nipples. Neji grinned and let himself fall to his lover's ear. He licked at the shell and gave gentle nips at the lobe.

Kiba did not bother to keep back his sounds of content as fingers and mouth combined into a pleasant swirl of sparks.

"Kiba..." Neji's voice was spoken in a voice thet was both soft and rough.

Kiba's hands tightened around the tunic covered shoulders.

Pale hands worked over the muscles covering the Inuzuka's stomach before dropping down into his lap. Neji's thumb rolled lightly over the erection that asked for attention before pulling away unsure.

Kiba whimpered thinking this only more teasing.

"Kiba," Neji stepped back to allow a small amount of space between them. "Have you ever...?"

Kiba nodded sadly, "once with a suitor my mother had picked, but that girl couldn't do in a whole night what you did to me in a mere ten minuets."

Neji smiled, his hand resting back on Kiba's thigh while leaning down to his lips again. Kiba readily kissed back, parting his lips to encourage tongue play.

Suddenly the door burst open. Neji took half a step back and looked up at the intruder. Kiba's eyes fell to the bedside as he tried hard to calm himself.

Hinata gasped, her fingers intertwined next to her lips.

"What?" Neji asked harshly with a solid glare.

"We're under attack," for once there was not a stutter or tremor in his cousin's voice.

Neji's eyes went wide, his hand leaving Kiba's knee before he rushed out of the room with Hinata leading the way. He passed her on the stairs and ran to the front door. He froze seeing what lay on the other side.

Beyond the stone path lay an ocean or fire. Gold and violent red waves whipped at the air, scorching it dry. The cries of the Hyuga seagulls pierced into the darkness and the large black clouds covered the moon.

Neji was horror struck. He didn't even turn his head to look at his cousin when he spoke, he couldn't, his eyes would not move, "wake Hiashi."

"But..." Hinata tried to object.

Neji finally pulled himself away from the scene and yanked the girl from his way and went back inside. He hurried up the steps and went into Hiashi's room.

He strode to the night stand and pulled open the drawer, bottles rattled from the shock. Neji rummaged through the glass containers. He found the one he wanted and forced Hiashi up into the sitting position to be taken.

"Y-you!" Hinata screeched, "you've done this to him!"

"I've only kept him like this," Neji defended, laying the man back down and turning toward his cousin.

"This is treason!" She shouted.

"This is desperation!" Neji corrected. "He stole from me what I _had_ to get back!"

"Your slave!"

"My love," Neji shoved past her and ran down the stairs. What hole had he dug?


	21. Regrets

Neji sighed, raising his head to the sky as a gentle breeze brought the smell of burnt hopes. The golden stawks were reduced to ash that crunched under his feet, alrming him of another presence.

He didn't have to look to know whom had joined him. "You will burn in Hell for what you've done," she shared.

Neji didn't respond for a short second, "perhaps, but at least I was able to live in Heaven with him."

The gaurds that had followed the sisters took his arms.

"Treason is an offense to be hung by!" Hanabi shouted and started a strong stride as to attack her older counsin.

Hinata laid a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back, "how could you, Neji?" Her voice didn't tremble, "you said you'd never wish anything bad for me."

Neji looked over his shoulder to see her hurt face and then back up at the sky.

The gaudrs took his silence as sign to move on and escorted him back towards the palace. The two sisters stood alone in the distroyed field, watching their cousin be taken away.

Until Hiashi was back to full health Hinata would be in charge. The weight of the world of hung heavy on her shoulders.

He was tossed into a cell, falling onto the harsh gound only to get up when the door slamed shut.

He looked through the bars on the door to see the corridor, "Kiba!"

There was no response. His head fell between his hands that gripped the bars harder. Everything he had done had come down to this. In a few days he will face judgement day and he will do it with his head held high, but right now, in this cell, he will regret it all.


	22. Cousins

Neji's long brown hair was a tangled mess, his bangs hanging down in front of his face. His head bowed and hands bound, he accepted the noose put around his throat. The crowed stopped their booing and Hiashi spoke, "Hyuga, Neji, you are being held accountable for treason and attempt of murder on the high nobility, how do you plea?"

Neji's heart beat hard in his chest, his knees were weak, and he put all his strength into his voice, "guilty."

"Then you will hang," Hiashi stated. The crowd erupted into agreement. "Any last words?"

Neji lifted his head to look at his uncle, "it was never my intention to kill you, uncle. You are the only father I've known, the only family I've had." He of course was lying but what else was there to do? What use was he to Kiba dead?

"And this is how you repay me?" Hiashi lashed back.

"I wasn't myself, uncle. I've been acting foolishly. Please let me redeem myself," he plead.

His words hung in the air a long moment. Hiashi's face was stone cold, like his eyes. Then after a long blink he looked at the executioner and nodded.

Neji's chin dropped again and he waited for the floor to disappear and his life to end.

Instead the rope was removed from his neck. "Your life will be spared but your crime against me will not go unpunished," Hiashi spoke loudly.

Hands gripped Neji's shoulders and pushed him harshly to his knees. The back of his shirt was ripped open and he knew what was to come next.

"A public whipping," he announced.

Neji heard his strong foot steps across the planks and then a shadow was standing over him. He looked up into those icy eyes and Hiashi's voice spoke again, this time for only Neji to hear, "you are never the one pulling strings, nephew." He nodded to the man again.

There was a crack of the whip and Neji felt the intense pain of his skin being torn open. His spine arched and neck craned as a scream was ripped from him, only to fall into a joyous crowd of the unsympathetic.

Again and again this scene replayed until Hiashi put up his hand, "enough." Everything fell silent except for Neji's labored breaths. "Your sentence has been carried out, but this does not gain back my trust or respect. Neji Hyuga, you are no longer nobility."

Neji looked at him with anger he didn't know he had left, "you have never respected me! Since the day my father died I've been nothing but a nuisance to you! My father, your brother, he was nothing more than your servant!"

Hiashi's eyes narrowed at this sudden outburst, "just as his son will be."

The whip cracked against his back once more, forcing him to release a strangled groan and fall forward into a bow, his hair falling in front of his face, hiding it from the onlookers.

Hiashi's steps walked to the stairs and off of the platform. Then the sound of the people dispersed into silence.

"In my opinion you should of hung," the gruff voice of the masked man spoke behind him. Then there was hands on his binds beginning to untie them.

Neji's pride spoke out against this, he wrenched the rope from the other's hands and to the side.

"Fine, stay here," then they too left and Neji was alone.

The sun began to set, he could feel the flies on his wounds, and this was the edge of existence. He almost died today, shouldn't he be positive that he hadn't?

The sounds of footsteps again rattled the planks. Someone kneeled beside him. Careful hands fidgeted with the knots. A soft voice spoke, "father sent me to bring you to the barn. You will be staying there."

"Thank you, Hinata," Neji's voice was raw as he looked over his shoulder at his cousin.

She didn't say anything else, just took his stiff arm and helped him to his feet.

He laid down in the hay and she laid wet clothes over his back.

"Where is he?" Neji asked bravely.

"Gone," she said quickly, "I sold him."

"He was not yours to sell!" Neji snapped, and pushed him self up on to his elbows, "you had no right!"

"You were in shackles and father in delusions. I had to take control! Y-you've changed, Neji! He's the reason you've hurt us! I-I had to!"

"Where is he?" Neji repeated.

She shook her head, "you mustn't know. You'll- you'll misbehave again. We can't trust you if you know. I can't trust you, Neji," she was tangling her fingers together and shaking her head.

She was close to tears, Neji knew this but pressed on. "Misbehave? Hinata, are we children? I love him, please, let me be with him."

She dropped to her knees in the hay beside him to readjust the bandages that had moved.

He looked back at her to try and make eye contact, "please."

Hinata looked away. Neji felt his heart sink, "Hinata."

"A Nara bought him," was all she offered.

"Where?" He insisted.

She stared at the wall.

"Hinata!"

"The western hills. I won't tell you anymore. You have to behave, Neji, please. I don't want to take over for father when he retires, I-I can't! Please!" She shook her head fiercely.

Neji turned himself over and forced himself to sit up. His and Hinata's relationship had never been close. They acknowledged each other as nonthreats and companions but never true family. It was at this moment however that he saw in her a sister. He gently kissed the crown of her head and spoke softly, "Hinata, you have grown so much these past months. You are ready to take Hiashi's place. You have a kind heart and put others before yourself. Those are the makings of a good leader. That's what you will be, a good leader."

Hinata whipped her eyes and smiled, "thank you, Neji."

She finished bandaging him and stood to leave, "I will check on you in the morning."

"I won't be here," he said after she had left.


	23. Runaways

Neji ripped open a feed bag and emptied it's contents onto the dirt floor in a line going towards the large door. He tossed the bag onto the hay mound and sat down beside it. He peeled off his torn shirt and tore off the sleeves. Neji wrapped the fabric around his torso tight and knotted it in place. He tore apart the the feed bag and repeated the process until the wounds on his back were covered.

He gathered his hair into a ponytail and picked up the kinfe he had found. His hair grinded against the blade and then with a final snap it was gone.

Neji stood and looked out the window to see dawn on the horizon. He crossed the barn and opened the horse stalls. The beasts were instantly drawn to the feed on the floor.

He threw a saddle onto one before forcing it's head up to slide the bit into its mouth. He lit a lantern and walked towards the door, reins in hand. He pushed open the only exit and then threw the lantern down into the hay mound. The glass shattered and the flame was free.

The horses were no longer interested in the feed and ran for the outside.

Neji mounted his horse and took off at a gallop, trying to gain distance and fast.

The fire will distract them from the fact he's gone missing. Getting the horses back well buy him time. The only thing he can do now is run.


	24. Lies

Hinata stood in awe of the fire in morning's first light. Shadows were shirnking and flames were growing.

Hiashi was at her side, overseeing the efforts to extinguish the fire. Both were considering the same things.

Was Neji still inside the barn, or had Neji started this fire?

Hinata's heart was leaning towards the latter and she felt betrayed for the second time.

She was the last to see her cousin. Hiashi will ask her what was said. Was she supposed to lie? Was she supposed to protect her cousin who's actions have caused pain for her?

Neji's intentions are pure but his methods are corrupt.

What was Hinata to do? What side of the ballance holds more weight, love or family?

"Hanabi," Hiashi looked to his yougest daughter, "go back to bed."

The girl nodded and a maid took her hand to lead her back to the house.

"Hinata," his eyes landed on her, "my office."

"Y-yes, f-father," Hinata had never felt her heart beat so fast.

Enough of the barn had been cleared to make the answer clear, Neji was not inside, nor were the horses.

She walked into her father's office and stood by the edge of his desk, waiting for him, her decision still not made.

Hiashi joined her and sat at he desk, "you were the last to speak with him. What did he say?"

She chewed her bottom lip. Family came first. It was them who made you. That protect you... "Nothing. I-I bandaged him a-and left."

Hiashi considered this a moment, then with a sigh he waved her off, "I suppose I'll have to start a search party."

"Would it really benefit us t-to find h-him?" Hinata asked.

Hiashi gave her his attention again.

"Y-you wanted t-to hang him. T-this w-way it's l-like he's a-already dead. H-he's dishonored o-our family, should w-we really claim him?"

"I suppose you have a point," Hiashi agreed, "go to bed, Hinata."

Hinata bowed her head and left the room. As soon as the door shut she released a long sigh. She had just lied to her father. Something she's never done before. Perhaps Neji was right, she was becoming stronger.


	25. Strangers

The rain was cold and hard on Neji's back. His body was drained, tired, and shivering. His horse was no better. Its feet had slowed to a rather regretful gait through the mud.

Lightning flashed in the distance, illuminating the sky for a mere second. When the bright light disappeared a constant glow stood out on the horizon.

He started in that direction. Maybe it was a home with a barn to sleep in until the storm passed, or a tavern, anything would do.

His back had never felt so sore. The pain was throbbing and only getting worse. He had to rebandage himself soon.

What he found was a small log made home, a soft orange glow coming from the windows. He tied his horse to the porch railing and braved the front steps.

He knocked on the door and stepped back, waiting. A woman's face looked out one of the windows at him before the door opened.

Neji bowed his head, "I'm sorry to bother you but-"

"You poor thing, you have no shirt!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the greeting warmth of a stove heated home.

She pointed to a chair, "sit."

He obeyed. Across the small, round and weathered table sat a small boy. His chin barely reaching the eating surface, his eyes glued to the guest.

The woman came back and handed him a white linen shirt, "it ain't much but it'll cover you up." When he didn't move she looked at him for a long moment, "them ain't just a make-shift clothing are they? You're hurt."

Neji's white eyes focused on the dinner wear on the table. He must of interrupted their meal.

"How bad is it?" She insisted.

"Might be infected," he told the spoon. It wasn't fine silver like what he ate with. It was odd something so small as a spoon made him feel so privileged. He hated it.

She looked at the boy, "go fetch me a pot of water."

He nodded and dropped down from his seat.

"You got a knife? Military came and took anything that could be a weapon from this house."

Neji removed the blade from his pocket and set it on the table.

She picked it up and whipped it across the skirt of her dress, "sure is nice. Where'd you get it?"

"Stole it," Neji answered.

She paused, "now why would you tell me that?"

"I don't want to lie to you," he looked up at her.

She smiled, "ok. So where's the wound?"

"Back," he stated and turned in the chair so his arms hung over the supports that were loosely in place.

She set the knife back on the table and went to the small kitchen area for a pair of scissors and a small stool. She sat down behind him and slid the cold metal under the dressings Neji had made. The wet and strained material gave to the cutting with little protest.

The boy came back, soaking wet and holding a cast iorn pot with rain and pump water. "Put it on the stove," she told him. He did. "Go to your room, and stay there," was her next command. He did that as well.

She removed the last bandage and sighed heavily before standing, "you drink?"

Neji shook his head.

"Well you'll wish you did," she handed him a bottle, "here."

Neji was not ignorant to the world outside of the mansion. He knew that medicine didn't come cheap and that whiskey was a good substitute, but with one hard swallow he wished it wasn't.

She picked up the knife, Neji forced down another swig, her hand braced his shoulder, and he felt the blade digging into his already aching skin. He released a long groaning scream as she cut out the infected tissue.

She'd pause to clean the blade in the boiling water and let him breathe before starting again. It was during one of these moments, she was dabbing at the blood running into the other wounds, that he saw the door the boy had disappeared behind open.

She noticed too, "bring me a hook you made from one of my pins and some line."

He came rushing to her side with what she asked for. His eyes to the floor. She tied the line to the hook and slid it down into the hot water.

"Take his horse to the barn," was the boy's next task.

Neji released a grunt with every prick as she closed the wounds she had opened.

"You're a Hyuga," she said while working.

"Yes," although it wasn't a question he answered.

"You're a far way from Hyuga land. Are you a run away slave?"

"No," he said flatly, as though he wished not to talk about it, which he didn't.

She accepted the silence and finished the last knot before cleaning the rags and bloody water off the table.

He sat there a long moment staring at the wall before turning and sliding on the shirt she brought him.

"Them wounds, they came from a whipping didn't they?"

Neji looked down at the wooden boards of a floor.

"And that haircut didn't come from no ma with scissors either." She sat down in the chair across from him.

Neji stared at the table.

She looked him over a long second before getting up, "I'll set you up a cot out here by the stove."

"Thank you."


	26. Thieves

Neji's horse walked through the high grass' constantly dropping his head to try and get a mouthful. Neji jerked on the reins, forcing it to keep its head up until reaching a tree standing out against the forest's edge.

He dropped down from the saddle and unhooked the buckle laying on the horse's jaw on the opposite side he was standing. The bit fell from the animal's mouth and Neji lowered the buckle to fasten around its neck.

Instantly its head fell to pull grass from the wet dirt. Neji tied the reins to a low branch before using his shirt to whipe the bit clean. Then with a heavy sigh he collapsed in the shade. he leaned back against the tree and looked up at the sky through the branches.

His attention was pulled from the scenary by the sound of hooved footsteps. "Nice horse," the rider commented. Their eyes moved to the body sitting on the ground. He looked like a poor unfortunet pesant. "How'd you get it?"

Neji looked up at the man that looked no better than himself, "what's it to ya?"

There was more footsteps coming through the underbrush. Another rider on another horse stopped beside the first, "the difference between taking your horse or taking your head."

Three other men laughed at this aparent joke. "So where'd you get it?"

"A barn," Neji replied coolly. Living with Hiashi had tought him how to hide emotions.

"You're a Hyuga," his eyes gave him away again.

It wasn't a question so he didn't answer.

"Bet he's a slave who stole the horse," one said to another then looked at him, "you got a bounty on your head, boy?"

"Would I tell you if I did?" Neji responded.

"He sure as hell don't talk like no slave," one of the men stated.

Neji decided to ignore anything that wasn't directed spicifically towards him.

"Don't matter, we'll just take the horse then," the first one slid out of his saddle.

"Go ahead," Neji shrugged, and nodded towards the unaware animal, "I've been traveling three days straight. He's probably only got one day left in him."

"In that case," the second rider removed a rifle from its holding place and with a booming shot that rang off the trees the horse dropped.

Neji's eyes went wide and he jumped to his feet, "why did you do that?"

"You said it only had day left," he shrugged.

"I didn't mean of its life!"

"Misinturpatration then," he pointed his gun at Neji, "guess now you'll be clearer."

Neji slid back on his blank face. This was a game of control.

"We ain't had none of that fancy schooling like a slave gets, so you think you can dull yourself down for us?" he asked.

"Certainly," Neji glared.

"What was that?"

"Yes," he corrected.

"So where you from slave? I wanna know where to get my reward," he grinned.

"I'm not a slave," Neji stated.

"Well now you ain't," he said humorously.

"I have never been anyones slave," he clearified.

"Alright then, where you going?"

"No where now that my horse is dead," he said flatly.

"That's for sure," the man laughed, "where were you going, Hyuga?"

"West," he answered.

"What a coincidence, so are we," he slid the rifle back into it's place and mounted his horse again.

Neji looked them over again. The one in the back had red fangs burned into his face, "you're Inazuka!"

The aparent ring leader looked back at the others, "yeah, why you going west, Hyuga?"

"I know Kiba. He was my uncle's slave. I was trying to set him free but my cousin sold him. I'm going to rescue him," Neji explained.

The ring leader cuckled, "kid if he's in the west he doesn't need to be rescued. The Inazukas got a deal with the Naras." He patted the back of his saddle, "get on."

Neji stepped around the dead horse to climb onto the live one being driven by a complete stranger. What else had he to do but to trust this band of thieves?


	27. Fights

The inky black tendrils of night stretched across the sky, wrapping the world in a icy blanket of darkness.

He walked into it, away from the glow of the campfire. He climbed the grassy hill, picking up the manageable limbs fallen from the trees bordering the field.

He stopped apon seeing the man leaning against one of the trees. He pointedly ignored him and continued his task.

"I did you a favor," the man stated.

Neji said nothing in return.

"When they find your horse they'll stop looking for you. A slave on it's own is less risky than a slave with a horse," he went on.

"I'm not a slave," Neji replied.

"Then what are you?"

"A Hyuga," he stated.

"Clever," he commented.

Neji didn't respond.

"You're educated," he observed, "you're well fed, and you have tact."

Neji stopped, "you sound as though you've already put the pieces together."

"All except that hair."

Neji turned to walk away.

"But that's a trivial thing isn't it," he went on, "you very well could of cut it yourself."

The Hyuga's feet froze. To cover he picked up a branch and added it to the pile in his arms and continued on. The man didn't follow.

When he got back to the camp the men started their insults again. It was racism and ethnocentrism that was the basis of their jokes.

Neji ignored them and stirred the fire. He had to carry the weight of his family. He was forced to suffer for the choices he did not make. He understood why and knew it would be better not to fight it.

"You're all bastards, Hyuga," one shouted loudly.

"Raiding, killing, enslaving, those weaker than you! Do you feel strong destroying families?"

Neji placed another log on the fire.

"My son was in a hut you torched," one of the men stood and walked towards him.

Neji didn't move, he stared at the fire.

"You beat my wife. You branded her, you raped her, and you sold her like some animal!"

He looked down at his knees.

"You people have no heart," he scoffed.

Neji finally met his eyes.

The man glared down at him, "I will give you the mercy your people showed her."

A fist was suddenly in Neji's hair and his face in the dirt. He didn't struggle, didn't fight back. He could hear the men yelling, shouting, cheering. He turned his head to see their feet.

There was a kick to his side, creating an audible thud. A stomp on his back. Another kick. Then he felt it. A person's bodyheat over the small of his back. A hand braced the back of his neck, keeping him in this submissive position.

A metal click.

An explosive boom.

The body on him quickly got off.

Neji looked up to see the shotgun pointed towards the sky and in the hands of the ringleader. His eyes met Neji's, "get up."

Neji forced his body onto its feet.

"You're not weak," his voice was harsh, "yet you didn't fight. The nobility have gotten stupider." He turned to the man that had initated the fight. He shoved him, "you almost raped a Hyuga prince, idiot."

Neji looked down when all eyes flashed to him.

"What do we do, Kuromaru? Take him back?"

"He wants to go west, we'll take him west," he answered. He then looked at Neji, "there's a creek over there, go wash the dirt off your face."

Neji bowed his head politely and walked in the direction he had been pointed towards.

He walked into a clearing in the woods and knelled beside the small water source. Neji cupped his hands together under the surface of the icey water and slashed it onto his face. He looked around the quiet, dark world he was submerged in and laid back on the forest floor to look up at the night sky.

He couldn't see the moon but he could see the stars. The guiding lights that reminded him so much of Kiba. A smile spread across his face as he thought of his lover and where he was in the world. Safe, and soon to be at his side.


	28. Travels

"Get up," a foot nudged his leg.

Neji groaned and forced his eyes open. He was greeted by the face of his would-be rapist. He forced his body up regardless.

"Kuromaru sent me to get you," the man started walking, Neji followed. "I don't know how he knew you were even out here. I figured you'd be long gone. Heh, I figured you would of never agreed to travel with us. I guess Kuromaru likes you or something, he's a real softy when it comes to peasants. Doesn't matter where they're from."

Neji listened to his ramblings but didn't much care.

"But you're not a peasant," he scratched the back of his head. "So why's the Hyuga prince looking for the Inazukas?"

"My business is my own," Neji replied.

He turned around quickly, "and my family is my business. I'm not leading the enemy into our camp no matter what Kuromaru says."

Neji didn't even flinch at the sudden closeness, "let me clarify, I am not looking for your family, I am looking for Kiba."

"Why," he insisted.

"I have already told you. My business is my own," Neji repeated.

His eyes narrowed, "and Kiba is my family, what's your business?"

Neji knew he wanted an explanation. The question was how does he supply this without giving away too much? "I don't need to explain myself to you," he made to walk by him but the man grabbed his arm.

"You're not in power anymore, prince, I call the shots in these woods. What do you want with Kiba?"

"You're mistaken, Akamaru, I call the shots in these woods," Kuromaru corrected. "His business with Kiba is his business. I sent you to retrieve our guest not interogate him. Now go get the horses ready," he ordered.

Akamaru walked away while Kuromaru led Neji in the opposite direction. "Don't make me eat my words, Hyuga," he warned. "I'll send you right back to the uncle you ran away from." He leaned against a tree, "how happy will Hiashi be to see you, Neji?"

Neji wasn't exactly shocked that he knew his name. Although it wasn't common knowledge anyone in or close to power knew any given noble form any given family.

Meaning this thief is not a simple thief he was once in a noble's house. His name seemed familuar, Neji knew that the second he heard it but just vaguely.

"Tell me," Neji took on his regal voice, "the Inazuka refer to one another as family, are you any true blood relation to Kiba?"

"I am not in the means the Hyuga use," he answered, his own tone dripping with confidence and superiority.

"Well educated, diverse, and speaking with nobility and yet respect, advisor perhaps?" Neji questioned.

"To Tesume herself," he shared, standing and circling the Hyuga.

"And Kiba?" Neji asked.

"That was to be Akamaru's post," he shared and began to walk away, forcing the Hyuga to follow. "We will be at the camp by sundown. Are you prepared to brave the lion's den?"

"With utmost certainty," he replied confidently.

"Good," he stopped and spun towards him pulling a knife from his belt, "I'm not protecting you, Hyuga." He turned the knife the blade in his hand and the blunt end held out towards Neji, "I'm not giving you permission to hurt my kin, I'm giving you a means of defense. This is yous, take it back."

Neji accepted and without another word horses were mounted and the caravan started moving again.


	29. Treaties

Neji watched a trail of smoke on the horizon grow closer. That was the camp. Kiba would be there.

His heart could beat no faster.

Then he saw him. His heart exploded within his chest as did a smile across his face. Neji dropped down from the moving hose, despite argument from the man at the reins, to bound through the tall grass on his own, screaming Kiba's name. This was it. Finally. Finally!

Kiba was his world and without him he perished. He's fought and lost everything for him without a single hint of remorse. All he needed was right in front of him.

The Inazuka lost his grip on whatever irrelevant thing he was holding. His face faded from complete shock to complete happiness as he stepped into the tight embrace.

Then Neji held him at an arms length, "Kiba, Kiba, I've found you!"

"Neji, what are you doing here?"

"Are you real? Am I dreaming?"

"What about Hiashi?"

"Are you a slave?"

"What happened to your hair?"

"Oh, Kiba," Neji leaned forward, his hands holding Kiba's jaw. He kissed him. Right there in a field swarming with Inazukas but he didn't care.

He breathed a sigh and put their foreheads together, "I've missed you."

"N-Neji I..."

"Ahem," a shadow moved over them. Neji looked up at the man sitting tall on his horse. "You could of told me. Would of gotten you here a lot faster."

Neji was still smiling, "would you of believed me?"

"I suppose not," he shrugged and tightened the weaved reins when the horse tookan uncommanded step. "Kiba," he bowed his head respectfully.

"Kuromaru," Kiba said happily, "how did the mission go?"

"Brought him back home. Found him on the way," he pointed to Neji.

"Thank you," Kiba praised and took Neji's hand, turning away and towards the tents. "I have to tell you something."

"Kiba, I'm just glad your ok. That you're being treated like the prince you are," Neji stated.

"Neji, I'm not a prince, I'm a noble."

They stopped walking. Neji's eyes were drawn to the tent beside them, "what are they doing?"

"Giving him tattoos," he pointed to the triangles on his face. "The fangs are a symbol of pride now."

"Kiba," a young woman bowed her head to him, "Nara Shikaku and Shikamaru are here."

Kiba nodded, "I'll be right there." He turned to the Hyuga, "I have a meeting."

"Of course," Neji sighed. He had just refound the love of his life only to lose him to politics.

Kiba looked at the disappointment in his face, then offered, "would you like to join me?"

Neji's smile returned. He nodded and followed Kiba to the proper tent. "Nara Shikaku," Kiba shook the man's hand. "Nara Shikamaru," he offered the same hand to the other, younger looking one, who only accepted it after a nudge. "This is Hyuga Neji," Kiba introduced, "I hope you don't mind if he joins us." He motioned to the chairs and they all took their seats.

"Not at all," Shikaku answered.

Shikamaru put his chin on his hand with a bored sigh.

Kiba turned their attention to the scroll on the table. "As I'm sure you're aware we've hit a snag," Kiba's voice was tense, almost nervous. "The treaty arranged Hana to wed Shikamaru and bind the families. Unfortunately, my sister is no longer with us," he presented the predicament. He threw a look towards Neji then continued, "as the only noble left..."

Neji's heart sank.

"It of course relies on you..."

No.

"But I am willing to do anything for my people."

It was the way he said it. His complete, emotionless conviction. Something he didn't want to do but realized he had to. It was noble, honorable, stupid. Why deny your heart? Why suffer so willingly?

Shikamaru merely sighed as though it was annoying.

Neji stood up and walked out.

Kiba stood as to go after him but stopped himself and sat back down.

"That is quite the proposal," Shikaku remarked.

Kiba nodded, "I want my family to stay safe."

Shikaku looked at his son, "what do you think, Shikamaru?"

"Let them stay, make a new treaty," he said simply. "Let's face it, we're not fighters, we need Inazuka support and no offence or anything but I preferred the thought of marrying your sister and she was a troublesome, annoying woman," he stated dryly.

Kiba was elated, he breathed a sigh of relief, "thank you. If you draft it I'll sign it but- I really- Um... excuse me." He bowed and left to look for Neji.


	30. Chains

Kiba sat down in the grass beside him, "I have been looking for you."

Neji continued to look up at the beautiful hues, the pinks that stained the sky with the promise of night.

"How long have you known?" Neji asked bravely.

"Since Hana's death," he answered sadly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Neji turned towards him angerly.

"Would you of helped me? Would you of let yourself fall in love with me?" Neji turned back, his heart breaking. "I didn't think it would matter, Neji. I thought I would die within those walls. I thought I would forever be your slave," he moved closer.

"But I had promised to set you free," Neji argued.

"Who said I wanted to be free? Neji, I am bound to you with shackles much thicker than iorn. Neji, I am your slave, you branded my heart."

"I will not take a lover who thinks he is below me," Neji retorted bitterly.

"The assure me I am not," Kiba pleaded, "tell me the chains travel two ways."

Neji sighed and turned to him again, "Kiba, you are my air! I have come all this way for you! How can you say you are mine when you've belonged to someone else first? You are his, you have always been his, that Nara's!"

Kiba shook his head, "never did I belong to him. Never has he held me, never has he kissed me. I am _yours, _Neji, no matter what superficial binds that tie me it is to you that I belong."

"When is the wedding?" Neji looked at his knees.

"Tonight," Kiba tried hard to hide his smile. He looked up at the first star emerging beside the moon, "Dinner will be served soon."

"I want to watch the stars," Neji said sadly, now watching that single star sit beside the moon.

"Neji," Kiba started.

He looked over at him only to find Kiba looking at the sky so he did the same.

"I will ask a favor of you," Kiba stated.

"Whatever it is, Kiba, the answer is yes."


	31. Vows

The meal was simple. The intire clan circled around a fire and a comunial dish was passed, as though they were all family. It reflected their close-knit culture. They called each other brother, sister, cousin, all stitched from the same cloth, all connected to the same kin. As Hyuga he felt out of place.

It got worse as the night went on. The cildren were taken to their tents. Women dwindled after until it was only men, drunk and loud they spared no detail.

"Hyuga," they spat his name into the dirt. "Murderous Hyuga. Stone-hearted Hyuga!"

"You're drunk!" Kiba would accuse and attempt to defend. He would change the subject, prompt for a better mood, but it fell on deaf ears.

"You are weak and spineless," speech slurred.

"He is a better man than you," Kiba retorted and took the pale hand in his, taking them away from the fire to the alley of tents. "I'm sorry," Kiba apologized. The mood changed with the speed lightning cracks in the sky. "Come with me," he grinned and pulled him along to the tent that was his.

"Kiba, your wedding-"

"Later," he insisted, pulling the cloth door and stooping low to enter, Neji's hand still in his. "I want to know what happened when I left." He sat down on the weaved mat, his legs folded.

Neji sat across from him while Kiba stuck a match and lit the lantern sitting beside him. "I was whipped," Neji stated, "almost hung for my crime."

Kiba listened.

"Hiashi promised I'd never be a noble," he went on, "he sent me away to become another animal." He ran his fingers though his hair, "I cut it off, I set the barn to ash, and ran. I ran with you in mind," he reached for him but withdrawed on second thought.

Kiba sat up on his knees and crawled closer, taking Neji's hand again, placing it to his cheek, "Neji, I have missed you."

"And I you," they drifted closer.

Kiba's eyes slid down, all distance was lost. Lovers submerged into the kiss, savoring every glorious movement, pulling it down into their hearts, locking it in the hallow cage to fill it.

Kiba fell away, laying down onto the matt. Neji relented, continueing to kiss him, kiss him, kiss him...

Tan fingers moved the white tunic up the pale torso, exploring the stictch work across the torn skin.

Neji released a shuddered breath between them, his white eyes clouded, looked down, watched a bead of sweat roll across Kiba's jaw, down his neck. He bent to kiss the moist skin, tasting of salt and flesh and everything so wonderfully Kiba.

Hands held the shoulders above their owner, legs moved, spines rippled with the most gracefull of waves.

They explored in the light of the lantern, their shadows cast on the tent wall.

There was the loud roar of a group outside. Neji froze as though shocked out of his trance, "what was that?"

Kiba smiled up at him, his fingers burrying in the dark locks, "we have a tradition." He leaned up, Neji leaned back, wanting more of an explaination. Kiba sat up on his elbows, "the ceramony means nothing in our family... It is what happens after that makes a marriage."

Neji sat back completely, staring dumbfounded.

"The family gathers outside the hut, celebrating the new union while the couple celebrates in their own way," he smiled hopefully.

Neji turned towards their shadows as though he could see the people through the tent, "how did they know...?"

"It only takes one mouth to spread word," Kiba stated. "Neji, if you're uncomfortable I can ask them to leave."

Neji paused, "wait... Kiba are you asking... Are you suggesting I- Are you asking me to be your husband?"

"Only if you want to be," Kiba grinned.

A smile spread across Neji's face, the corners of his mouth twitched with a small laugh before he leaned forward, kissing Kiba agan. Then he sat up and turned out the light.

Kiba released a chuckle while laying back down, "where were we?"

"Why pick up were we left off when we can start a couple steps back," he sank to kiss his along his neck. Kiba moaned and ached to press their bodies togehter. Neji's fingers explored his lover's body. He had seen this moment since he had dropped to his knees and unlocked the shackles from his ankles. "Kiba..." he moaned breathlessly.

Kiba _was_ beautiful. So completely beautiful.


	32. Inazukas

Neji wasn't surprised to wake up alone the following morning. Kiba had work to do. What did set him aback was when he pushed back the tent's opening he was greeted with a group of Inazuka standing in the sunlight all smiling whith knowing smirks.

He regarded them with a nervous smile of his own.

A woman hugged him tightly and then held him at an arms length, "welcome to the family!" She stared into his white eyes with satisfaction. She hugged him again and then turned to the others hold up his hand, "Inazuka and Hyuga are one!"

They rejoiced as though she had declared the war was over. It didn't matter they were men. It didn't matter he was Hyuga. Their leader had made a decision and they supported with whole conviction.

This was a family. Their bonds were closer than his own. There was more love spoken between two brothers of Inazuka than any betrothed of Hyuga.

Other cultures looked down on this one. They were savages, filthy inbreds of the forest, and they were. They were! Yet they were happier than any other people in the world.

Neji had never been beyond the garden fence and here he was, deep in another culture, being congratulated for sharing a bed with another, for what lovers did in the dark of night, such things he was taught were not be spoken of.

The crowd parted as Kiba joined them. People laughed and exchanged words only drunk men in bars exchanged in Neji's world.

Kiba grinned and stood before him, "I am going to sign the treaty, would you like to join me?" He offered his hand.

"Of course," he took his offered hand and they walked away from the group continuing to celebrate. "They are so happy," Neji commented, his disbelief in his tone.

"Weddings are a big thing for us," Kiba smiled, "family means everything."

Neji thought of his own family. The parents he lost, his uncle he desisted, the cousins he only tolerated. The concept was foreign, alien to him. He had gone from a world of cold distance to warm embrace and there was nothing in between. "Kiba," he stopped. Kiba turned toward him, listening. "Kiba, it's too much."

"What do you mean?"

"I _am _a cold-hearted Hyuga," he stated.

"No, Neji, you love me-"

"Like a Hyuga, not an Inazuka," he finished.

"I don't know what you're trying to say," Kiba said.

"We come from different worlds, Kiba," Neji clarified, "I am not comfortable here. Not with your family. I love you, Kiba, only you, not your family, which your culture says is one in the same."

"Neji," Kiba said warmly, "I know. I know how Hyuga live, I know how the Nara live, I know how Uzamaki, and Uchiha live, I know about the meaning of family across the board. Stone-hearted Hyuga you say then why are you here?"

"For you," Neji answered honestly.

"And I am here for them as their leader not their brother, these things are not one in the same. They make you uncomfortable, they make _me _uncomfortable!" He laughed.

"But they regard you as such," Neji countered.

"They don't," Kiba corrected happily before walking again.

"But-"

"They don't, you'll see," the continued up the hill.

The Nara lived in small cabins carved from the trees on the hills. They were nothing like the Inazuka. They did not mind stepping on nature as long as there was benifit, although they did have their sacred deer for which they gained name. Their social system was much like the others but with immediate family kept close. They were a simple group of people. The reason they fared better in warfare was the medicine their land created.

Neji sat at the large table across from the Noble's son. He seemed tired.

"Shikamaru," his father elbowed him. He sat up. "He has to leave," Shikaku motioned towards Neji. "I received a letter from a Hyuga head hunter. Hiashi is looking for you."

"Hyuga can't step foot on this land unwelcome," Kiba stated in disbelief.

"If Hiashi thinks he's here he'll risk it," Shikaku said gravely. "I can't afford a pissing match with the Hyuga, not now, not over a fugitive. Besides we protect Inazuka, not Hyuga."

Kiba looked at Neji.

"I knew Uncle would come looking for me, it was only a matter of time," he sighed. "I'll leave before sunset."

"Where'll you go?" Kiba inquired.

"Further north," he stated, "out of the valley, to the sea."

"I wish you luck," Shikaku bowed.

"I'll go with you," Kiba insisted.

"Your people-" Neji argued.

"I'll watch over them," Shikamaru volunteered.

His father looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "that maid's gotten in your head."

"Temari has nothing to do with it," Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "So you're leaving at sunset?" He changed the subject. "You can take our horses and spare your own."

"We'll only take one," Neji stated, "forces us to travel light and cover more ground."

Kiba bowed his head, "thank you so much."

"I want to see this war end as much as anyone," Shikaku stated.


	33. Cultures

Neji pulled the reins to the horn of the saddle and hoisted himself up. The horse took a step, testing its new rider. Neji replied with a stern rein pull, ceasing the creature's rebellion. "He's fickle," he told the owner.

"Of course," Shikamaru responded, "I wouldn't give away our best horse would I?"

Neji smiled slightly. Shikamaru was a man of intellect and reasonable tactics. He understood him, he respected him. His eyes turned to Kiba, his smile falling way to concern. He would of taken this journey himself, he could only scarcely imagine how Kiba felt, being pulled away from his people again.

The Inazuka passed up the bag of provisions, Neji tied it to the horn. "What is it?"

"Grains," Kiba answered and wedged his foot into the stirrup and threw himself up to sit behind Neji. "You're lucky to be traveling with an Inazuka," he smiled, "if it grows in the forest and can be eaten, I'll find it."

They looked out over the crowd with tattooed faces. They stood quietly with forlorn faces, wishing the best, dreading the worst. Kiba was right, they were loyal followers, not his brothers.

"He's green," the Nara warned.

"Good," Neji tightened the reins, "means he'll know how to run." He sharply kicked his heels into the beast's sides. It jolted and ran for the trees. Kiba's arms wrapped around his waist.

Tree after tree passed, Neji guided them through the deer paths, giving a hard kick everytime the gait slowed. At times the transition was smooth, unnoticeable until Neji noticed how the scenery was no longer a blur. Then he would reclaim his barrings and spur the creature on sternly.

"Neji, I think we should stop," Kiba stated.

"Why?" Neji asked, still looking forward.

The horse jumped over a fallen log, his passengers adjusting with more trained skill than he.

"Light is fading," Kiba warned, "we should look for food."

"We'll look when we stop," Neji concluded.

Hooves splashed through creek water.

"We can fill our canteens," Kiba persisted.

"There will be other creeks," Neji replied.

They continued in silence.

Kiba was right, light was fading. The sun, shinning through the trees, was no longer. The pace again slowed, and this time Neji did not correct it. The horse walked through the dark forest, jumping and shrieking at the sounds of the unknown. It too had never been past the garden fence.

"Neji, we should stop," Kiba insisted.

"No," Neji stated coldly.

"I can't see anything," Kiba argued reasonably.

"I can," Neji argued.

"Because it's in your lineage! Neji, stop!" Kiba shouted.

They continued "don't you trust me?"

"I trust you, not your eyes," Kiba shared.

"The Hyuga have been bred for their eyes!" Neji fought.

"And Inazuka their nose, damnit stop!"

He jerked the reins, the horse froze obediently. "Why?" Neji turned towards him.

"I smell smoke!" Kiba dismounted and felt his way past narrow trees.

Neji dropped to the forest floor, leading the horse behind him. "Kiba," he called, "you can't see."

"I was raised in the forest, I can see fine!" He returned.

Neji watched him and tied the reins to a low branch, "what are you doing?"

"Making a fire," Kiba replied.

"No," Neji objected, "we can't draw attention."

Kiba threw down the sticks he had collected, turned at started walking.

"Where are you going?" Neji demanded.

"To find food!" Kiba retorted.

The Hyuga grabbed his arm, "no."

"You said we'd find food when we stopped, and we've stopped! What now? Afraid I'll poison you?"

"I don't want to lose you again!" The tense air fell away. "I don't want to lose you again," he repeated softly, his hand falling away. "Why couldn't you of stayed behind? If they find me they kill you."

Kiba stared at him, "they won't find us, Neji."

"You don't know that!" Neji shouted. "You don't _know_ anything!"

"Because I'm a savage Inazuka? I'm sorry I'm not as smart as that Nara, but I know enough to _run_ and when to _stop_!"

"Nara? What are you-"

"I saw how you looked at him, I don't have _Hyuga eyes_ but I can see!"

"What?" He realized what Kiba was saying, "are you serious? I almost lost you to him! In fact you seemed all too eager to fulfill that treaty."

"For my people!" Kiba yelled.

"Your people," Neji snorted, "filthy inbreds celebrating voyeurism."

"As opposed to people with hearts as cold as their eyes," he shot back.

"That's what we are," Neji agreed spitefully.

"And we're people of the forest, you're lucky I'm with you," he started examining trees and breaking branches.

"Lucky? You ask to stop every ten yards for food or some medicine plant!"

Kiba ignored him and sat down.

"I told you not to make a fire," Neji reprimanded.

"I'm not," he stated, begining to weave the pliable branches together. "These wouldn't catch anyway."

"What are you doing then?" Neji asked curiously.

"We still need to keep warm somehow," he shared, "the ground is cold. I'm making a mat."

"Small mat," Neji retorted bitterly.

Kiba rolled his eyes, "we need to keep our cores warm, legs don't matter." He set his completed work on the ground. He shifted to sit on it. "And the medicine plant was for your back," he grumbled.

Neji sighed and sat beside him.

The silence dragged on.

"We need to sleep," Kiba advised. "We can't travel tired."

Neji nodded.

"Give me your shirt," Kiba demanded, pulling off his own.

Neji looked at him, released a noncommittal sound and pulled off his tunic, handing it to Kiba. Kiba tied the sleeves together, making a crude blanket. He laid down, Neji did the same. Kiba moved himself close to the other body. Neji put an arm around him and pressed their chests together. They stayed like that a long moment, in silence. "Did it mean anything?" Neji asked, "last night. Did it really mean anything?"

Kiba sighed, his warm breath ghosting across Neji's face, "no."

Neji nodded understandably. They fell quiet again. "Kiba?"

"What?"

"I don't feel any different," he shared.

"Me either," Kiba agreed.

Neji pushed a piece of hair from Kiba's forehead with a smile, "we have a story of a goddess. A mortal drinks from her fountain and is raised to the heavens."

Kiba laughed, "we have song birds."

"What?"

"Their voices are that of virgins the morning after the wedding," Kiba told.

Neji chuckled, "suppose it's just us?"

Kiba shook his head, "I think we just love each other as strongly as we did before."

Neji kissed his forehead and held him tight, their legs tangling in an attempt to steal body heat. He could feel his back begin to sting but his chest was perfectly warm as long as Kiba's was against him.


	34. Boundaries

Neji shifted, drifting out of sleep. He felt the barren mat beside him and quickly became more alert. He sat up to find Kiba sitting only an arm's length away tearing leaves and separating the pieces into separate piles. His fear subdued, he rubbed his eyes and looked around.

The horse was huffing at his handful of grains on the ground. Birds sang in the trees around them. Sun light rained down from the covered heavens, the everything buzzed with the feeling of early morning, dew still in the air.

"What are you doing?" Neji finally asked Kiba.

"You told me not to go far," Kiba started, "and this was all I could find in range." Out of the pile in his lap he handed Neji a fist full.

"What is it?"

"Technically, I don't know. We call it sour grass, you eat until your stomach feels sour," he twisted a leaf, exposing the dark, moist green insides and popping it into his mouth.

"It's a leaf," Neji pointed. Kiba shot him a look. Neji decided to follow Kiba's example and laughed a little.

"What?" Kiba asked.

"Nothing," he laughed harder.

Kiba looked at him quizzically, "what?"

"It's just..." a breathy sigh escaped him. He laid back down, tucking one hand behind his head and the other holding the twisted leaf to his mouth to chew on it. "Look at me. How I've gone along so obediently with rules I don't understand." He laughed again. "I'm the son of a servant, Kiba. That's what I am." He had never felt so connected to the world, it wasn't distant, it was right beside him, breathing life into him. "Proper manors, grooming, etiquette, it's all been drilled into me for years and here I am... eating a leaf in the forest." Neji sat up and looked at his lover, "I'm the son of a servant, trained to be a noble, but in the end, here I am, the improper creature fate intended."

Kiba smiled at him, shook his head with a small chuckle and continued eating.

"Thank you," Neji laid down again, smiling.

Kiba moved to his side, leaning over him to look into his white eyes. "Thank you," he corrected, "all my life I've been told one thing and taught another. Have adventures as long as they keep you safe. Thank you, for this amazing adventure." He leaned down, touching his lips to Neji's gently. The caress didn't last nearly as long as its participants wished but to over indulge in a moment of danger was a man's down fall.

"The adventure's not over," Neji promised sitting up, slidding his freed shirt back on.

Kiba took apart the mat, scattering the branches before perching himself in the saddle while Neji kicked leaves around the area, giving the correct appearance. "Let's hope they don't have sent hounds."

Kiba nodded in agreement. The Hyuga looked up at him, "where am I to sit?"

Kiba smirked and scooted forward, "figure it out."

Neji rolled his eyes and mounted behind the other body. His slight height advantage made the fit a little more comfortable. He reached around the Inazuka for the reins. "I know how to ride," Kiba protested.

"I was raised on horses," Neji countered. "Besides, if I'm not distracted I might be tempted to entertain myself with this sinful body in my lap," he pressed his chest to Kiba's back, lowering his mouth to his ear.

"Who says I would find that a bad thing?" Kiba replied.

Neji laughed lightly, taking the reins, giving comand and taking to the paths.

On the second day they covered more ground. The trees fell way to a sea of endless fields of wild flowers reaching the horse's knees. Neji's eyes were downcast, scanning for holes. The roles of rider and beast had changed. The creature wanted nothing more than to fly through the fields, but Neji would give a tug and corrected him.

Kiba shifted everytime.

"Something wrong?" Neji asked.

Kiba put his hands on Neji's wrists and pulled them up to his waist.

"Sorry," Neji apologized, "I've never ridden with someone like this."

"It's okay," Kiba sighed, "just stop lowering your hands."

Neji smirked but agreed. Ever since the conversation this morning it was all he could do not to think about such thoughts. Kiba's body was undeniably beautiful, reacting so deliciously.

The Hyuga shook his head and directed the stubborn creature to stay its pace, the back of his hands grazing Kiba's stomach and hips digging in to keep his seat.

Kiba's fingers curled around the saddle horn, his breath hitching softly.

Neji looked down at the Inazuka, curious.

Smirking again, he tensed his arms, loosened the reins, allowing the animal to pick up a faster gait. He felt Kiba expertly move with the horse, but something was different in his motion, it was all too familiar in a single, precious memory he held.

Again he walked his fingers up the leather reins and pulled them tight. Kiba sighed. Neji relaxed, destracting himself with the task at hand, put as much land between them and the Hyugas as possible.

After a short while the creature became accustomed to walking and took to it without having to be reminded every so often. The leisure pace took them to the top of the green coated hill. Neji couldn't keep his eyes away from the view of the valley. It stretched on for miles before them, speaking volumes in its simplicity. He stopped the horse, "look."

Kiba was.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Neji asked.

The Inazuka smiled, "the devides aren't physical."

"It's all pointless," Neji stated.

"Maybe someday they'll see it too," Kiba sighed.

Neji nodded, "I have faith." He clicked with a kick and they advanced on.

The sun moved towards the horizon. Hanging low in the sky.

"We shouldn't sleep in tall grass," Kiba advised. "Snakes."

"It thins out closer to the trees," Neji stated, turning off course.


	35. Connections

"I sometimes forget," Neji shared lightly, "the way things were under Hiashi. Seeing you a leader, with all your confidence back, it's almost like it didn't happen."

Kiba smiled, "because of you. You constantly picked me up when he beat me down. Thank you." He moved closer to the Hyuga.

Neji leaned back on the tree, moving his legs apart and inviting Kiba to sit against him. "I did it because I love you, you don't owe me any thanks."

Kiba hummed, slouching down, his head on Neji's chest. "I'm glad you're here," his voice was soft. "I felt... empty without you."

Neji lowered his lips to Kiba's scalp, taking in the sent of his hair. "You are my prince," Neji sighed, closing his eyes, "I am your loyal slave. I need to be at your side." His arms wrapped tightly around Kiba.

The Inazuka smiled and turned his eyes towards the night sky. The stars shining brightly, displayed just for them. Neji shifted and sank his kiss to Kiba's neck, just as soft and fleeting at the first. Kiba turned to catch his lips, starting what would become a deep and sensual play of tongues before Kiba moved, turning still, his chest against Neji's, the kiss falling further into a frenzious dance.

"Make love to me under the stars," Kiba pulled him down to lay over him in the grass.

Neji laughed happily, putting his weight to his hand at Kiba's side, to play with the soft brunette hair with the other. He leaned down placing his mouth to Kiba's, kissing him with whole hearted, passionate, conviction.

The stars were witnesses, shinning in the heavens. A horse lowering its head into its standing sleep while its masters lived in themselves, in the folly that is deep connection, at the edge of the world, under the stars, in a world not their own, before falling off the edge between the waking world and the serine sleep.

The sun cut through the horizon, carrying the light of the earth.

Neji's eyes were the first to open. He watched the fog that had settled emerge and take roll from the hills down to the valley.

Kiba hummed beside him, a smile pulled at his lips. The Inazuka sat up and hung his arms around his lover, "good morning."

Neji turned his head, kissing, Kiba's temple, "it is."

The Inazuka stood, stretched and slid his shirt back on. Neji followed him with his eyes before turning back to the hill, watching as white specks of sheep in the distance took to grazing. Kiba returned and leaned over him, his hands running down his pale chest. "You think too deep," Kiba smiled.

"I find my thoughts beautiful," Neji replied.

Kiba hummed tiredly.

"Mostly because they are of you," Neji finished.

"Such a charmer," Kiba laughed lightly. He ran his fingers through Neji's short, messy hair before pushing him just hard enough to make him pitch forward, "wake up."

Neji laughed and turned around to look up at him, "fine." He stood. Kiba walked to the saddle on the ground. He withdrew a handful of grain and held it to the animal while running his hand along the white blaze.

Neji sighed softly, put on his shirt and looked towards their path, "we should reach the coast by sundown."

"I've never seen a beach," Kiba confessed.

"I encountered an Unzamaki as a child, he said the sea calls to everyone. It's were we started, I think he was crazy," he laughed a little and picked up the saddle, putting it on the horse's back.

"Interesting people," Kiba mused.

"I'm sure they say the same about us," Neji replied tightening the girth.

Kiba paused a moment, continuing to run his fingers down the animal's face. "What do people say about us, I wonder."

"Hm?" Neji looked up.

"Men, a Hyuga and a Inazuka, a noble and a savage, running away together," Kiba pointed.

"People who speak badly of us don't know what real love is," Neji assured, going back to readying the horse.

Kiba smiled, and slid the bridal back to the beast's nose. "I propose a motion," Kiba announced.

"And that would be?" Neji asked.

"I ride behind you today," Kiba stated, "yesterday was... a little too exciting."

"So that's what that was," he smiled knowingly.

Kiba rolled his eyes, "your hands were in my lap."

Neji chuckled, "and you won't exact revenge?"

"Of course not," Kiba promised, "you thoroughly made up for it."

"Ready to go then?" Neji took the reins from him.

Kiba nodded and stepped towards the horse. Neji hoisted himself up and held a hand for Kiba. The Inazuka seated himself behind the other and the journey continued.

After the fields came another forest. They traveled down the steep hills bottoming out to the dry creek bed. Kiba wrapped an arm around Neji and leaned down to catch something in passing. Neji stopped the horse, "what are you doing?"

"Here," Kiba smiled, "peppermint."

"What do I do with this?" Neji accepted the leaf.

Kiba bent the plant part until it broke and rubbed it against his teeth before spitting onto the forest floor, "Inazuka practice hygiene too."

Neji rolled his eyes and they started moving again. He navigated them around the thicket, over sloppy mud the animal refused, and hard rocks it preferred not to go over either, their pace depending on the terrain.

"The huts were connected with goat paths," Kiba continued his depiction, "the palace was the only stone structure. It was kind of the base. We kept archives there."

"Tell me more about your childhood," Neji asked.

They were talking to pass the time, to keep from getting bored with the surroundings.

"Hana taught me everything about the woods and Mom about nobility," he shared, "Hana was a little overprotective at times but I was a little reckless."

"I had tutors," Neji stated, "every lesson had a proper teacher at a table with paper and ink set in front of me."

Kiba laid his head on Neji's shoulder, "you've led a boring life."

"Before I met you," Neji agreed, "I was numb. You made me feel everything beautiful and ugly in the world."

"How can one person change you so much?" Kiba replied skeptically.

"I don't know but you have," Neji stated.

That's where one conversation ended and another began.


	36. Curiosities

What came first, on the other side of the woods, was the cry of a bird. It was followed with the reply of the rolling sea. Waves lapped at the beach, sand being sucked back into the tide only to come spiralling back. They both stared, the salt air soaking through them, the cool breeze sweeping away all prejudices, leaving behind pure, unadulterated freedom. Freedom, the word screamed volumes.

Kiba dismounted, his feet hitting the mixture of sand and grass trying to claim it. He reached down and pulled off his shoes before running towards the sea, pulling off his clothes as he went. "What are you doing?" Neji shouted, dropping down from the saddle, taking the reins in his hand and picking up Kiba's clothes.

"The sea calls to us all!" Kiba replied. Neji shook his head and led the horse down to the shore. He put his own shoes in his arm with Kiba's and let the cold water move across his feet.

The animal reared its head and stepped back. Neji turned towards the act of defience, his eyes landing on the human made shape in the distance. He stared in question and wondering.

"Join me!" Kiba yelled.

Neji continued looking towards the object of his current fascination. Kiba wadded back up to the beach, "what's wrong?"

"That," Neji pointed.

"Looks like a cabin," Kiba shrugged and took his clothes. He pulled on his pants but refused his shirt, throwing over his shoulder instead.

"Exactally," Neji stated. "No one lives out this far, and if they do, friend or foe?"

"Can't hurt to ask," Kiba smiled and started running across the sand.

"Kiba, it can too hurt to ask!" Neji argued.

Kiba turned around, still moving, "chicken shit!"

Neji stared, "what's gotten into you?" He started walking.

"Stop worrying," Kiba assured, allowing him to catch up. "Anyone who left the valley hates the war as much as we do. They'll help us."

"What if it's a Uchiaha vacation home?" Neji argued, "what then?"

"Uchihas? Leaving the mountains?" Kiba laughed a little, "the detest the shore. You know what they did to the Uzamaki."

"The same the Hyuga did to the Inazuka," Neji sighed.

Kiba swayed sideways, gently nudging Neji playfully. He smiled and put an arm around his shoulders, his shoes hitting Kiba's chest gently. "Be positive," Kiba stated, "we became free men the second we smelt the sea air."

Neji smiled as they walked the dunes towards the small cabin.

The closer they got the more details came into view. A garden lay encased by a white fence. Well, once was white fence. Years of weather had peeled away paint and darkened the wood beneath. Plants within had gone rebellious, tangling their cage and choking one another. The house itself wasn't in any better condition. The panelled siding curled up, some had even fallen off, the door hung crocked on its frame that the roof had rotted and collapsed what seems like years ago.

Kiba stopped at the garden gate. "That answers that question, doesn't it," he said and reached for the latch.

"What question?" Neji remained cautious.

"No one's here, Neji," he opened the gate and walked over the plants despite the other's protest, "this place looks like it's been abandioned for years." He kicked at the difrenent soils. "Carrots," he smiled proudly.

The horse dropped its mouth to the green overgrown garden. Neji jerked the reins back. With a sigh he released the buckle, patting the broad neck and closed the gate behind them. While Kiba rummaged now wild provisions Neji started walking towards the shed at the other end of the garden. He stopped, noticing a wooden steak at the head of a mound of dirt unlike the rest. He looked at it a long moment before kneeling and clearing away strawberry vine.

His suspicions were proven true. The steak was indeed a grave marker. He turned to the one a few paces to the right beside it. The ground was undisturbed. "Two grave markers, one grave," he pondered out loud.

Kiba walked towards him and looked just as curious. "One buried the other and predicted their own death," he suggested, "but there was no one to dig their grave."

"So where is the body?" Neji asked.

In the same instant they both turned to the house. After exchanging wordless thoughts Neji released a deep breath and walked towards the garden gate. He walked around the fence to the door hanging crocked, on its last hope. The boards of the old stairs creaked and he vanished into the house.

Kiba waited in the garden, watching the hose rip up the rampid clover until Neji reemerged, "rotted floors, weak beams, but no body."

That was good enough for Kiba.


	37. Yearnings

In the months following they decided to fix recreate the cabin. It was that or continue sleeping on the grassy sides of the dunes, and still wake up covered in sand. Using tools from the shed and lumber from the woods it was a slow process but it occupied their minds. Kiba carved shingles to lay perfectly together and Neji relaid beams. The roof was the most daunting obstacle.

Kiba used the straw broom to clear cobwebs from the interier while Neji corrected the door. Kiba tightened the knots in the bed frame and hung the down matress out the window. The horse ate his fill of overgrown garden until Kiba got around to cultivating it. Then he was free to roam the nearby dunes, never wondering far. They even found a fresh water well behind the house.

One night while they still were sleeping beneath the stars Kiba cut the fishing line from Neji's back, apologizing every time his partner tensed with a pull of pain. "We have matching scars," Kiba said resting his chin on Neji's shoulder.

"Hiashi's signature," Neji replied.

"I think they're sexy," Kiba objected tracing the welts with his fingers.

Neji shivered.

Kiba moved closer, "remember the massage you gave me." His hands drug down the pale sides and around his waist, closing the distance between them, pressing his chest to Neji's back. He hummed and kissed the side of his neck, "I think it's time I repaid you."

Neji smiled and leaned back into the warm embrace. His breath hitched as tan fingers sank lower. His eyes rolled to the sky, captivated by the full moon staring back. He smirked feeling the permanent white light beginning to stain. He will forever associate the beauty of the moon with Kiba's sinful hands.

The weeks following Kiba took to the garden. The previously contained horse created a wonderful soil to work with. He salvaged what he could of the plant inhabitance and what wasn't used as provisions started anew.

"How's it look?" Neji asked, leaning against the garden fence and looking towards the cabin.

Kiba turned, "wonderful." He smiled and removed the gloves he had cleared spiders from.

"I wish we had some paint," Neji continued.

Indeed the newer shingles stood out against their gray and weather worn counterparts and the new fence posts against the old. Kiba stood and walked to the part of the fence Neji was leaning against. "Are we suffering delusions again?"

"What?" Neji turned towads him.

"We can't stay here, Neji," Kiba said in a harshly realistic tone.

"Why not?" Neji asked.

"The war is still going on, people are dying, just because we've escaped the problem doesn't mean it isn't still happening," Kiba spoke gravely.

"Then what was the point of this?" Neji gestured towards the house.

Kiba looked at it again, he stared a long moment, "this was for you, Neji."

"How was this for me? It was intended for us!"

"Don't get mad," Kiba tried to calm him, "you found yourself here, Neji. We created a home for you, one without Hiashi. This place will always be here for you but I already have a home."

"That's been burned to the ground!" Neji objected.

"It still exists," Kiba remained unruffled, "in memories."

The Hyuga stared down at the Inazuka, letting the words settle in his mind. He leaned froward, pressing his lips to Kiba's temple, "thank you."

That night they lay on a down mattress, on a wooden bed frame, an old patchwork quilt over them. Neji gently pushed hair from Kiba's forehead. A smile was the returned favor. Neji quietly smiled back. Then he realized something. This was to be their marriage bed. A straw mat, grassy fields, and forest floors, do not a proper bed make. This was to be theirs, however far away from it the following adventure will take them, they had this foundation.

He shifted closer to brush his lips to Kiba's, "I love you." It was all he could say. His arms wrapped around Kiba, pulling his body closer, kissing him again, not giving Kiba a chance to say anything back. He didn't have to.

Their legs tangled, fingers pulled at raven hair, the kiss broke softly, "you're hair's getting long."

Neji smiled widely and moved onto his trapped elbow, his chest now above Kiba's, "so is yours."

"We are both kings of this land," Kiba spoke royally with a laugh.

"And together we rule beautifully," Neji replied smoothly, leaning down to kiss him again, carefully moving over him. Kiba faded into this carnal creature, kissing roughly in return. The pads of his fingers dragging down the length of Neji's back, digging into the worked muscles.

Neji groaned, arching as the sore tendins flinched and ribbled with the wonderful disturbance. He lowered his face to Kiba's tan neck, kissing his skin, letting Kiba's sent fill him. "Kiba," he breathed, his voice sounding like a moan in itself, "I could get lost in these moments."

The Inazuka moved to catch his lips with his own, touching Neji's jaw, urging the tongue play that long ago was once gentle. His fingers slid back into the dark hair, tangling and pulling, his other hand crawling towards the bed post. Neji's tongue now well trained in the art traced lines over Kiba's skin. His hand moved over his chest to the only clothes still between them.

Kiba's voice was gone, all that was left was dry swallows and thick sounds of pleasure. Neji breathed against his skin, absorbed in the heated moment, flooded with it. Being so close to Kiba, intimate in the most extreme of ways, bleeding into him until their hearts beat as one, until their bodies moved together without meaning to. Their breath echoed one another's, the complete intoxication of red hot passion, these moments with Kiba were the closest to heaven, and the most fleeting. Eternity with Kiba like this would not satisfy Neji's yearning for him.

"Kiba?" He was laying on Neji's chest, resting his head low on his shoulder, he hummed to signify he was still in the waking world. "Promise me something?" Neji continued, his arms withdrew from around the other body, slidding his hands down his arms.

Kiba forced himself up to the note of seriousness in Neji's tone, "anything."

"We're not done. This is not our final resting place, I know that... but wherever we're taken, no matter how we're separated, you remember me and my promise; I will look for you Kiba," he spoke softly, his white eyes staring into Kiba's.

Kiba nodded, "you are engraved in my memory, Neji Hyuga."

He leaned forward to press their foreheads together, "likewise, Kiba Inazuka."


End file.
